On Role Models: Obama’s Missed Opportunities
By Pat Racimora on September 21, 2009 at 6:00 PM in Current Affairs, President Barack Obama
We did get a different kind of President. He’s a rock star and ran as someone to tag along behind cheering, “Yes we can.” So whether he likes it or not, he became the most visible role model on the planet.
I actually hoped that when Barack Obama became President he just might use his charismatic persona to raise us up in ways both large and small. The possibilities were endless. But, he has missed many chances. Three missed opportunities are illustrated here.
#1. I expect that the President should eat well and understand that holding receptions goes with the gig. But while increasing numbers of Americans were struggling to put food on their tables, Obama served $100 a pound Wagyu beef to his guests. These Japanese cattle are purposely and severely restricted in their movement to prevent muscle roughness and regularly massaged to soften the sub-cutaneous fat). What a missed opportunity to be known as a wisely frugal president or a leader who models creative ways of throwing parties featuring humanely derived and cost-effective but clever food choices.
#2. The White House puppy fanfare was the most excellent opportunity ever to advocate for rescue or shelter dogs and to call attention to the needs of the tens of thousands of companion animals ready for adoption. But, after months of media-crazed waiting amidst calls from animal rights groups, the favorite purebred of Ted Kennedy, a Portuguese Water Dog (a nice dog, but pricy–$1,800 each on average, with multiple health risks), was chosen instead.
#3. The last example happened recently. Whereas the Obama children are appropriately dressed for safe bicycle riding, what’s missing from Obama’s head? (OK, I’m not putting that out as a straight-man line.) But I can just hear little kids across the country saying, “Well, the President doesn’t wear a bike helmet so why should I?” I guess if you don’t like Obama much, you can just respond, “Because he’s an idiot.” But that’s not teaching respect for the Office to our children either. A dilemma.
Maybe the fish bowl in which celebrities live in is inherently unfair. They have no private life, and every act outside of one’s abode with the shades drawn is ripe game for anyone with a device that takes photographs. But they should know that this is what they signed up for. And the President should always remember that he has the power to rise us up–or bring us down–by example.
(Photo credit: Associated Press)
(Release: November 13)
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Pat,
I would have had the same hopes for obama, if I had believed him to be sincere about his promises to the nation, not to mention was remotely “qualified”.
I saw him for the fraud he is, and is proving himself to be every day since inaugeration day, the moment he literally came out of nowhere to run for president, without any record of ever taking the time to learn a thing about governing or writing legislation, while he was a state senator or a U.S. senator. What did he do for South Chicago?
I never believed that someone who came up in Chicago politics with the meteoric speed he did could never have done so without having sold his soul to the highest bidder. I never believed his over the top promises to the people that prompted them to say with glee that obama was going to pay their mortgages and gas bills, etc. I never believed him or in him.
I did, however, believe that it took an unbelievable amount of arrogance and narcissm for someone with his total lack of requisite experience and abysmal record to think he had what it took to be president during these most difficult and complicated times AND that he was nothing more than a puppet.
I believed in Hillary though and still do.
Totally agree, Kathleen.
couldn’t have said it better, Kathleen.
Please someone, explain to me WHY the DNC chose him over Hillary. 18,000,000 voters did vote for her and as people got to know her, they respected her intelligence and realized she was a great candidate and would have made a fabulous president. What did the DNC see in this unqualified suit, that they broke every rule of law and the DNC rules to get him in?
P.S. I still believe in Hillary too.
I love the idea of Michelle pushing healthy eating and preparing quality meals for kids. Hopefully that will make a difference. Although – if she promotes it by going to expensive farmers markets, she might not have much luck. People will get discouraged that it is too expensive. She would have been much better off showing people how they can shop within a budget….
I don’t like Milbanks because of the Hillary Bitch Beer video, but he describes MO’s trip to the farmers market…it’s worth a read.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091703679_pf.html
I really wish they would have got a rescue dog, too. That would have set a great example.
And when was the last time she shopped on a budget?
Rich
The Farmers Market where I live is very expensive. The produce there is considerably more expensive than our local Whole Foods!
Excellent, toon, Pat – well done! And great post, too! Obama always wants it both ways – he wants the adoration, and none of the responsibility.
Obama’s “meteoric rise,” as Kathleen aptly called it, wasn’t hurt by him throwing everyone out of the way on that rise. Literally throwing everyone off the ballot to get elected to the IL Senate, then essentially getting the Rep. thrown off the ballot for the US Senate by his sealed divorce proceedings MYSTERIOUSLY becoming unsealed a few months before the election. Even that crazy Alan Keyes, the guy the Reps hurriedly threw on the ballot, STILL got 1/3 of the vote.
And that’s how Obama rolls.
Amy:
That nutjob Keyes got a THIRD of the vote? I never heard that before.
Wow.
I know, right? I looked it up one time just to see, since they made it seem like it was ALL Obama, per usual. I mean, really – if Keyes can get a third of the vote being him, and only being in the race for a couple of months, no wonder they had to get rid of the other Republican guy…
The analogy to a meteor in his ersatz “rise” is probably apt as a meteor often disintegrates upon coming into contact with anything representing substance, e.g., air.
i’ve always thought that obama’s rise in chicago politics was just a little too convenient. i strongly suspect that some favors were called in to get his opponents thrown off the ballot, and whoever called them in would obviously have wanted to be assured that they would get something in return. Zero ran for state house earlier and lost, so he probably decided that if he wants to win, he’s going to have to do things the Chicago Way.
You thought this President would “rise us up”?
This President is all about power.
George Soros’s power.
He doesn’t give a shit about you or me, or anyone else in this country, Pat.
Did you really think that the utopia he promised was real? Seriously?
I was never optimistic, Tammy, but you would think that Obama would have realized that his power and popularity could be vastly maximuzed by being a positive role model, especially for younger people.
In other words, it would have been to his own benefit (forget about us) to do more of what would be perceived of as the right thing.
Well, I actually caught Glenn Beck today, and when you look at Obama’s upbringing and all of his communist ties and “organizing” ties, you realize that his only intention as President is to “remake” America. Redistribution. Government power.
The man is a brainwashed FAR leftist who has no intention of coming anywhere near the center.
And with majorities in the House and Senate, he is going to jam through as much of his agenda as he possibly can and he doesn’t CARE if his fellow Democrats go down in 2010.
I hear Breitbart has more videos, so hopefully even more things will come out that will slow down Obama and wake up the people.
This President really does scare me.
I must have written over 100 posts before the election, stating emphatically that you can’t judge a Narcissist by what they say, they lie so casually that there is no way to know if they’re EVER telling the truth. In order to get an accurate picture of a Narcissist you have to strongly consider where they’ve been, what they’ve done, and who they surround themselves with. Looked at from this perspective, Obama becomes a very frightening specter, even if he never became president. But it is especially so, now that he is.
Pat, your insightful toon and post are best summed up by a signature Narcissist attitude; Do as I say, not as I do! You see, the rules and guidlines that normal, healthy people try to follow don’t apply to Narcissists. They’re too far above the pesky restrictions of mere mortals.
You hit it right on the head Tammy. I spotted him as a fraud from the beginning. His not wearing a helmet and eating high-priced beef??
Those things trivialize the damage this president will do to this country. Meanwhile, the parties only serve to remind us that this prez is all show and no go.
I am not sure he is about power. I think he is about being a star. I do not know what power he is showing since not much of value is getting done.
Rich
The 4th Missed Opportunity:
A restoration of honor and integrity to the White House. Oh, that was tried once and failed miserably. Never mind.
The 5th Missed Opportunity:
Real transparency. Oops, that was a broken promise from day one. We still have no idea of who this man really is. His silence and those of whoever have known him at one point in his life or another is truly disturbing.
The 6th Missed Opportunity:
Being a true post-racial president. Nope–he missed this one by a few miles. The divisions are more pronounced than ever.
His grade so far is an “F”.
Good ones, Ferd.
7th Missed Opportunity:
To lead us forth from the Wilderness into the Promised Land of Milk and Honey upon the Good Ship Lollipop into a New World of Change where the Unicorns dance under the Hopey Rainbows stretching above the Big Rock Candy MountainTo make us feel like unemployment and homelessness will soon be things of the past.
Spot on, oowawa. It’s all a hopey-changey world now.
8th Missed Opportunity:
Bringing political opponents into the equation. He promised this, too. Alas, yet another whopper from the Big Two-Faced Liar.
Your grade for Ozero is rather charitable.
You’re, of course, right but I had to grade on a curve since his predecessor was so bad and Clinton was so good. Bush is actually getting a reprieve due to dumb luck, which in his case is appropriate.
I do not understand why you feel he has not shown us who he is? Do you really believe there is an Obama we have not seen yet and if so what do you think it might be? I think he is now what he was in the election. That is who he is.
Rich
He is and he isn’t; he’s both shadow and reflection–and that is the problem. Policies don’t relate everything, especially when they are driven by the prevailing political wind.
Close. Actually he’s going to incite us to an uprising.
Oh, I thought HE was going to levitate.
LOL–Yes–Remember at the end of the Wizard of Oz, when the Great Oz levitates in his balloon, leaving all of the onlookers cheering and waving goodbye?!?! Off He goes–and meanwhile those left-behind wonder–”What do we do now?”
ROFL. You know, I wish he would leave in his balloon or on his unicorn and return to Planet Claire.
You mean those 70,000 protesters in D.C.? (cough cough)
I wouldn’t worry about them.
They’ll just, ah, um, go away
There are other missed opportunities where the Obamas could’ve shown empathy, consideration, good taste and kindness. Michelle wearing $500 sneakers to the Food Bank. Her wearing designer boots while digging in the WH Lead garden. The Obama’s spending hundreds of thousands of dollars (some of it their own money but the majority funded by taxpayers) going on date nights in NYC and overseas, renting an estate on Martha’s Vineyard and traveling all over the US giving speech after speech.
The latest example of tackiness and inappropriateness is the dress Michelle wore when her husband awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to the parents of a soldier who was killed in 2006. Here’s the link of the photo: (scroll down)
http://michellesmirror.blogspot.com/2009/09/mos-very-busy-week.html
She looks like she’s going to a cocktail party and is totally wrong for the occasion.
OMG that is wretched-excess tacky. That’s something one would wear to a roller-derby.
That is a dress to wear to a kid’s birthday party. So if anything spills, who can tell? Certainly completely inappropriate for such a solemn occasion.
I may have to do one of these role model toons on Michelle as well.
I don’t think there’s paint in existence that could capture the stark garishness of her outfits. I’m still blind from looking at that walking neon sign that was wearing her.
Rats. Lost another comment here down the In-Sink-Erator. Can an administrator please plunge it out?
Hopefully I’m not getting oowawa’s or Peggy Sue’s bad luck here.
Hey, I just had my comment sucked up as well. Perhaps it’s because I used the “N” word too many times, (Narcissist). Hope it soon materializes, I’m too lazy to write it again.
(I’m really NOT lazy, I actually like work soooo much, that I’m saving it for last!)
Could put in the 26 people the taxpayers are paying just to get her dressed and she still does not get it. More than any other first lady in history. What a waste of money.
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
As tacky as that crap is she wears, I’d say we’re into waste, fraud, and abuse territory. There is no excuse for her to wear what appears to me to be retro 1960s shower curtains and then send us the bill. No thanks–That One’s paying.
Please do, Pat.
I just looked at her dress, and I am thoroughly disgusted. What a disrespectful woman to wear a cocktail dress with bare arms(also disrespectful) to such a solemn ceremony.
These two are the tackiest most embarrassing people in the White House when it comes to decorum.
I just want to smack that woman over the head with Emily Post’s book.
Are you sure you want to sign your name so large on these drawings? If I had your level of “talent” I’m not sure I’d want the world to know my real name.
Hey, it’s a cartoon Word Nerd! Different strokes…
What an over the top hilarious blog! Love it.
Mo’s Mirror turns the knife especially well on the 9/11 entry.
That’s a response to tango for
http://michellesmirror.blogspot.com/2009/09/mos-very-busy-week.html
That dress looks like it was throw together from the odds and ends of paint cans. Something you’d make when you’re bored. Just to see the end results. Well you can see what it looks like UGH.
More appropriate for her Wednesday night bashes!
Totally inappropriate for such a solemn occasion. Does MO ever look in the mirror before she goes out?
We adopted a dog from the Animal Shelter about this time last year. We are his fourth home. He had some training but at his last home, he was left in the yard 24/7 inside an invisible fence. He would break free of the fence and take off.
When he first came to us, he was skittish and as soon as the door would open even a crack, he would barrel out and ruuuun. We would have to go and chase him down.
A year later, he is a completely different dog. He will sit on the front stoop and keep watch as the kids play. He loves his walks and no longer starts to bark when he sees someone coming towards him.
He is the sweetest thing. He’s not big on licking but you know he’s happy to see you cuz his whole rear end wags.
How cute what a wonderful loving home you have given him!
Regarding the missed opportunity in not picking a homeless shelter dog: this I think was really a major lapse. Even I would have thought better about him for adopting a homeless animal–particularly one who was on “death row.” Even worse–he at one point jested about himself being a “mutt”:
Then, when he chose an expensive pure-bred dog–what a disappointment! If he would have followed through and adopted the endangered mutt, the disadvantaged and homeless would have had something to cheer about. He really screwed up the symbolism on this one.
Yes, exactly.
Symbolism is lost on That One unless it is tied to him, directly.
I was totally pissed at the HSUS. They broke tradition and endorsed him as a dig at Palin. But many of their Republican members let them have it, as did this Hillary then McCain voter.
Really nice article, Pat.
Sadly, it’s one that should be posted on the bathroom mirror in the White House to remind the ones what they ought to be doing and thinking about.
Hey, the guy has been extremely busy!
Back-pedaling, tooting his own horn, spinning yarns, and juggling czars!
Did you expect a magician?
LOL would of been nice one or two waves of the wand and he could of disappeared!
If he’s going to be back peddling, spinning, tooting and juggling, he really should be wearing a bike helmet.
Pat, you picked some I hadn’t thought of but they only demonstrate his tone-deaf, ham-fisted attitude towards every issue. Thank you fro brining these to our attention as they do get lost in the other hypocrisies.
That One, rather than actually listening to us or learning from us what we might like him to do, he lectures and talks (and talks and talks) at us. When there’s belt-tightening to be done, we’re to do it and not him. When race is an issue, never mind that he sat in a church for 20 years that wasn’t exactly the paragon of civility and even-handedness–that wasn’t the Reverend HE knew. And never mind his selection of Czars such as Van Jones since HE appointed them and therefore they are above reproach. When he said he would bring the troops home in 18 months, he had another convenient prepackaged lie to tell his fawning minions when it turned out he couldn’t.
Rather than come clean, he uses equivocation and euphemism to cover his oratorical tracks, which are not only everywhere but are becoming more and more evident every time he opens his mouth. It doesn’t take much to follow his trail of lies.
Yes, instead of leading by example, he want to use the time-worn “do as I say not as I do” approach to leading, which really isn’t so much leading as it is dismissive as none of us are good enough to question his motives.
“Well, the President doesn’t wear a bike helmet so why should I?””
Child!! Have you not seen the last two presidents?? I’m telling you, wear you bike helmet or you’ll be lecturing people about putting food on their family.
Boy has he missed some opportunities! You’re on target with this one, Pat. Along with missing the chance to talk about rescue and shelter dogs, he could have easily incorporated the importance of spaying or neutering your dog.
Just as in life, The One is cycling along, oblivious to what he may be running into yet he’s posing for the camera with that sh#* eatin’ grin on his face. His presidency is a missed opportunity.
Obama will never rise in appropriate measure to a “teachable” moment because he is not a teacher. Whether due to lack of empathy and sanctimoniousness or something else, he isnt’ even a terribly effective communicator.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/08/25/2009-08-25_for_a_teachable_moment_america_needs_a_better_teacher_than_president_obama.html#ixzz0RnGXh918
Wonderful cartoon! I am concerned about Obama as a role model and why anyone would think that he would be a positive role model.
So as a role model the fact that he eats exotic, expensive hamburgers or does not care about animals left in shelters, is minor compared to what he already has shown us as a role model. As a role model he has shown us that you can hang out with radical people and still be President. Or you are not judged by the people you associate with or even who your spiritual leader is. That you do not have to pay your dues, and you can still rise to the top. That experience is not a requirement even for the most important job in the country. That you only have to say something convincingly and people will not ask you for proof. That Chicago style politics is better than telling the truth.
So I guess this is the kind of changes in our society we can count on. To that end, I think Obama is living out his role model.
Rich
BO riding with out a helmet? Pat, whats to protect when it made from wood?
Makes Pinocchio jealous.
Pat,
I so much wanted the POTUS to select a rescue dog for the families pet. It would have been a wonderful message to the nation, especially if he had taken a video crew to the shelter. There are so many wonderful animals in shelters around the country, many now given up because their owners could not afford to keep them.
Your other two points are also good.
Thanks.
I was wondering about Obama’s Kanye Comment as an example for our children.
I did think it was really great and gentlemanly that Obama stood up Taylor Swift.
But when Obama used the name “JackA$$” he really didn’t present a very good picture for our kids.
I think you have, again, hit the nail on the head. I supported Hillary and continue to believe that she would have been the better POTUS; however, I hoped that being a Democrat would make Obama a better choice than McCain. So far, my hopes have not been supported by much in the Obama administration. I am also terribly afraid that he sold health care reform out to the insurance and big Pharma before we even started. The examples you have represneted are all senseless grandiose decisions on his part. He is living a dream without responsibility and I am afraid we will be left with the continued nightmare.
from the NY Post today…
Grabbing his a**? Could we have a collective “eeeeeeewwwwwweeeee”?
Obama not wearing a helmet has made me seriously consider wearing one, for the first time in my life.
Hi I have read this post.Thanks for sharing it.Just wana say it seems there is rather good reason to believe that Obama has settled on the “apartheid” narrative for Israel. On that narrative, Israel has to be reigned in first. Of course, this is madness.