I can't even look at President Teleprompter anymore. Not for very long. Not under most circumstances.
One of my favorite novels is "The Simulcra" by Philip K. Dick. I cannot list all of the reasons why I love this book. First and foremost is Dick's signature dystopia. Whereas Orwell and most other dystopians advance brutal regimes, Dick's future is a nightmare that could easily gain traction in the Good Ole USA.
Imagine a world run by PBS/NPR. A world where citizens are bombarded with mind-numbing propaganda concerning the minutia of government and citizenship (such as the contents of the First Lady's china cabinet.) A lot like the world we now live in except that we are not yet subjected to pop quizzes that could cause us to face eviction from our residences.
The president is an android (simulacrum) and a series of actors portray the first lady. I can't believe this book was written in 1964. When other science fiction writers were focusing on spaceships, Dick was providing a glimpse into a complicated, strange and unappealing future. 1964 was the year of Marshall McLuhan's masterpiece,"The Medium is The Message." In some ways, Dick is as perceptive as McLuhan on the nature and uses of mass communication.
Back to the present. We have an unvetted president who still has gaping holes in his biography. His own autobiography has dozens of significant deceptions including a composite girlfriend (Will Dr. Phil ever address the unique challenges of a composite relationship?) The president is ruled by his teleprompter.
When Barack Obama speaks I usually leave the room or change channels. It isn't that I dislike the man but that I see him to be as phony as a simulacrum or at best, an actor who is pretending to be presidential. In real life the actor who plays President Obama was a crack-smoking community organizer who never distinguished himself in any walk of life. I for one do not accept guidance from a pitchman reading a script.
Given the artificial nature of President Obama, I relish those times when emotion seeps through the character. In the following clip, Barack Obama gets angry. It is not a high minded rage. No, the President is mad that he did not get his way. This is a brown M&M in the green room sort of anger. A Midol sort of anger. The anger only a diva can know.
But it is good to know that our president is human after all.
WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
1 comment:
This my favorite Obama speech. I know it's tedious and trite and full of half truths but all his speeches are. I could hardly keep a straight face when I heard it. True, it's not on the level of "When I returned Mary Jo and the car where gone" or even "you didn't build that" but it is memorable.
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