Lewis Lapham - A Semi-Disagreement

It struck us as odd that the usually insightful journalist Lewis Lapham, whose "Notebook" essays in Harper's we devoured each month, dismissed President Obama as someone only interested in striking the right pose ("Here's the Thing" podcast with Alec Baldwin).  It's an indictment that gives one pause since Lapham's the first person we've heard of with a three-digit IQ who seems to see the president as an empty suit, a decorative speechifyer who (how the "moderate right-wingers wanted this phrase to stick!) is "in over his head". 

Was sweating blood - and more preciously, political capital - to get the Affordable Care Act passed just striking a pose?  Did he work like a demon to avert a financial catastrophe just to make himself look good?  Perhaps freeing up millions of dollars for college student loans was just something the president did when he got bored with practicing smiles.

One wonders if Mr. Lapham has joined the "Oh, I'm so jaded" club, the one where Gore Vidal (whom Cockatoo adored) insisted that there was no genuine difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.  Maybe a policy like aid for foreign women's health and family planning falls beneath one's radar if one is a male living in the United States.  Perhaps repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell isn't a big deal if you're a straight civilian.  And why would health care and student loans make a dent in the psyche of someone who probably never fretted about either? 

The point being, seeing PBO as a mannequin might say more about the observer's POV than about PBO.  So, no, there aren't any cornpone "Tear Down This Wall" moments coming from this White House, just the day-to-day work of dismantling as much W-Cheney asbestos as they can.

That being said....  (Cockatoo now thinks immediately of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld when that segue is used.)

That being said, we have to admit that we do enjoy seeing PBO in action.  WhiteHouse.gov has clips of raw video, and a guilty pleasure is watching the President or First Lady, say, surprise a White House tour group, or pop unexpectedly into a diner in Iowa.  The people go nuts, and POTUS and FLOTUS are so gracious, so charming, it really makes one feel good that they are the First Couple. They seem completely natural, truly comfortable in their skin, yet humble and delighted to be representing the country.  One of our favorites?  The short and sweet clip of PBO inviting baseball great Willie Mays onto Air Force One.

So, yes, PBO does strike some nice, even heartwarming poses, but they don't overshadow the good of his policies.