An event that occurred yesterday has attracted much less attention than I would have expected. The phrase "Like a 'Saturday Night Live' Skit" has worked its way into the lexicon. This was one of those moments.
If you missed it, it went like this. Obama entered the White House press room escorted by Bill Clinton. The current president then said he had a Christmas party to attend and left the room. The ex-president stepped up to the microphone and conducted a long press conference as if he were still president. I was unable to watch the entire press conference but it was as if the press saw nothing wrong with the picture. If anyone stood up and said "wait a second" or "why are we asking you these questions?"
I know of no precedent or parallel or anything comparable to this strange event. There is a lot we can read into this. Hillary says she is through with public service and it seems that the Clintons and Obamas have mended their fences. But this is pundit Disneyland and no one seems that thrilled.
It would have raised eyebrows had Reagan turned it over to Ford or Nixon or if Clinton passed the mic to Carter or Bush handed off to his father. On the world stage I cannot imagine anyone doing like this except perhaps Medveded/Putin in Russia. There, some supect that Medveded is president in name only and Putin is still the man. But both parties have enough political savvy to avoid such a situation. Don't they?
Appearance is sometimes reality and in this case Obama appears absurdly unpresidential. We know he does not like conflict or criticism but...
Was this press conference a harbinger and if so, a harbinger of what exactly? Clinton was trying to be gracious (I think) but his shooing Obama away so as to not make Michelle mad probably revealed more than it was meant to reveal. I am going way out on a limb here and I am saying that something is amiss.
I was hoping some smart pundit would put this in context for me. So far, that has not happened. This is one weird event.
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