My Take on Facebook Favreau
By LisaB on December 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM in Arrogance, Barack Obama, Disenfranchisement, Hillary Clinton, Sexism
When Facebook-Favreau-gate began, I thought of it as simply a puerile act showing the young man in question had yet to slough off that collegiate patina.
Then I realized I was only getting angrier at the boy.
Today, Amy Siskind, over at The Daily Beast, had a few things to say.
Incident 3: John Favreau Gropes Cardboard Likeness of Sen Clinton
Check out what President-elect Obama’s pick for director of speechwriting at the White House does in his free time.
This is the guy who puts words in Obama’s mouth, right?
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Is the type of “change” we are meant to believe in? Looks like more of the “boys club” “(only 27% of Cabinet picks to date are women—less than President Clinton and President W. Bush)” that seems to be developing at the White House under President-elect Obama.
Read the rest ->
She combines the Favreau-executive-branch-grope-fest with stories about the “Big 3 Bailout” where women’s opinions are neither solicited nor desired and the Treasury secretary-select, Geitner, who also “de-solicits” female opinion – even that of the head of the FDIC.
Siskind sees a pattern. Fine. Of course, that pattern became visible months ago. Misogyny is now part of the “liberal” canon, both political and punditocral.
So, why is Facebook-Favreau so bothersome?
* The picture tells a LOT about President-Elect Obama’s “chief speechwriter” – mainly that the dude acts like either the pledge master or would-be frat brother, I can’t tell which. I live in a college town, so I see this a lot, but it’s a COLLEGE TOWN. I don’t live near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where those lucky enough to work are expected to be more sophisticated than the average binge-drinker. And this guy apparently isn’t worldly enough to know that potential employers regularly check applicants out on Facebook. Many employers consider Facebook party pics something of a negative, after all.
* This picture gives the sense that Hillary featured strongly in Team Obama’s thinking. And the bs about “high spirits” or “post-long-campaign-shenanigans” just doesn’t pass the smell test. No one keeps a cardboard cutout of someone they like. OK, maybe some do. But the pose of Favreau and unnamed wingman are not respectful. A respectful pose wouldn’t be funny, after all. And funny was the putative point of the picture although it is a type of funny typically found in rhyming couplets on a bathroom wall. Lame and boring to anyone older than about 16.
* The treatment of this picture as a non-issue by President-Elect Obama himself continues a tradition of treating women poorly despite hyper vigilance on AA discrimination / insult issues. Jeeeez, I could go on and on, but we’ve written so much about this at NQ, I feel like I’m forever repeating myself (and the other fine writers). President-Elect Obama should have changed the tone of his campaign IMMEDIATELY after the primary with respect (or lack of) to HRC. Had that been the case, this cutout would have been long gone. The t-shirt on wingman as well as Favreau’s presence suggest they didn’t expect President-Elect Obama to be bothered by the picture.
* HRC is now the likely incoming US Secretary of State. That’s supposed to be a position of power and respect. Had these two jello shot dudes been just some 19 year olds from my local U, it would be disrespectful but not necessarily a potential problem for international relations. Now, I don’t think a disrespectful picture of ANY US official is an international incident, as long as the picture originates from the opposition, doodlers and/or political cartoonists. That stuff is to be expected, along with the perennial US flag burnings by people who have no idea what our flag actually looks like.
But this originates from the office of President-Elect Obama, from a person with direct access to President-Elect Obama and who has shaped both the image and message of President-Elect Obama to the US public. Because of Favreau’s access to President-Elect Obama and his importance to President-Elect Obama’s success to date, it is hard to believe this picture isn’t reflective of a broader attitude toward HRC, and, to judge by other issues regarding females, women in general. THAT’S the problem here. That opens a window for others to wonder about President-Elect Obama’s confidence and trust in HRC and in the US SOS. Unacceptable. While all the pundits and tvidiots are talking about whether HRC can be “loyal” and “tow the Obama line” without trying to “push her vision instead of his,” we now have some indirect evidence of a problem going the other way. Not that this should be a surprise, really.
Quite frankly, I’m disgusted that a would-be member of President-Elect Obama’s office would be so undisciplined and immature. While President-Elect Obama appealed to students, he isn’t supposed to put them in high office until they’ve learned a few things. Not to post stupid pictures revealing more than you should on Facebook should have been top of that list. Actually, that would have been understood by an adult. Clearly, Favreau’s boyhood isn’t over.
Indirectly, this picture is another indictment of a campaign and candidate utterly tone deaf to women. What’s worse, having nominated Hillary Clinton for one of the highest offices in the nation, President-Elect Obama has now undercut her personally and as US SOS by not immediately taking care of padwan Favreau. As much as anything else, this sends a signal to carefully watching nations as the BO administration takes shape.
I cannot think of a way out (assuming he gives a rip) for President-Elect Obama at this point than to “bus” young Facebook-Favreau. But time passes, and President-Elect Obama has clearly sent a message by dragging his heels.
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