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Look up in the Sky–It’s Teflonman!

By Pat Racimora on October 18, 2008 at 9:15 PM in Barack Obama, Obamatopia

web-teflon-man-cartoon_edit.jpg

What keeps Obama so safe from scrutiny?

I haven’t seen anything like this, ever. George W. Bush was also dipped in Teflon, but it wasn’t nearly as thick. I ran out of space in my cartoon or I would have included yet other puzzles accompanying Obama on his nearly perpendicular assent from nowhere that would have flattened any other contender for the presidency.

I used to think it is mostly the < “low-information voters,” as Susan UnPC politely dubbed them, who, innocently responding to inaccurate information, were”OK” with Palin being Obama’s running mate and Obama’s pro-life stance. Or maybe it was largely those who were asked to locate Iraq on a map, and stuck the pin in Australia. (We apparently have a lot of voters who don’t know much about the world they live in.)

So, I asked a number of my intelligent and well-read Obama supporter friends why Obama’s one-ply toilet paper thin resume and some of the colorful (that’s being polite, too) long-term consorts have not figured into their evaluation of him. Here’s how a few of those interactions went down:

Me: What about Tony Rezko?
Friend #1: Oh, the guy who bought the house next door to Obama’s house? That was just a coincidence. Chicago isn’t as big as you might think.

Me: What about Obama’s friendship with terrorist Bill Ayers?
Friend #2: That doesn’t bother me. Obama was only 8 when Ayers set off those bombs.
Me: Would you be friends with Charles Manson if he ever gets out of prison? He did what he did a long time ago.
Friend #2: That’s different. Ayers never hurt anyone.

Me: Would you attend a church for 20 years if the minister was anti-Black?
Friend #3: Well, Obama didn’t go every Sunday.

Me: What do you like about Obama?
Friend #4: He is inspiring.
Me: Is that enough to take over the leadership of our country in a time of great internal and external crises?
Friend #4: I am sure he can find people to help him.

Me: Can you name one individual with a stellar reputation who has been close to Obama for many years?
Friend #5: Can you do the same for McCain?
Me: Well, yes I can. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton….
Friend #5: [interrupting] Well, no one knows that much about Obama.
Me: I think you are helping me make my point. Shouldn’t we know more? (I am now also thinking that Teflon keeps everything inside from getting out.)
Friend #5: I know I like him. That’s good enough for me.

And so it went. Inaccurate or insufficient information, a mega dose of faith, and some fancy rationalizations.

I felt sorry for Geraldine Ferraro. She stated that Obama was a very lucky man. For that she got nailed with the R word, which, by the way, has now lost its original intended meaning. It seems anyone who disagrees with Obama or mentions his race (unless it is him—he does it repeatedly) is a racist. So is that Teflonman’s secret? The threat of being the reciepient of the R word fends off anyone who tries to vet him? Yep, I think it is.