It's been a long fortnight.

I skipped IBALWW last week.  I'm sure you noticed.

At the beginning of the week was the uproar over SNL's "criticism" of Barack "I Done Plenty o' Nuthin'" Obama.  CNN fact checked the comedy skit, and found that, contrary to the conclusions of SNL's comedy writers.  President Obama has done something.1

By the end of the week, Barbara Boxer was saying that harsh people (like yours truly) are just like Hamas and the Taliban. 

But what really, really got me was what happened on Friday.  I had to find out, from the MSM. that it was BO'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Bo, that is.  1st Dog.  He's 1-year-old.  They grow up so fast, don't they? 

Again, the MSM gave short shrift to this momentous occasion, as they allowed Ego-in-Chief to turn Bo's birthday to his own publicity advantage.  Here's the statement:

After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, 'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday.'

And then Sasha added, 'Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.'

So it's - it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective.

This is a fascinating remark.  There were two things that jumped out.  The first was the comment about the three day weekend.  Do you think that there's any chance, any chance at all, the the real remark contained a reference to Columbus Day?  Let me put is this way: if there had been, he would have edited the remark.  Surely the Obama girls know that good Liberals don't talk about Columbus in polite company, and if you must speak of Columbus, you have to include the obligatory litany of crimes that he personally committed or opened the door for others to commit by setting out from Spain and accidentally discovering the New World, where People of Color had already invented a very sophisticated calendar, very sophisticated farming techniques, and still ate each other.  Hey, it's a cultural thing.  Columbus, by setting foot on [unmemorable Caribe name] Island, caused mass genocide and exploitation.  And only Eurocentric Xianist Heterosexist Male Chauvinist whiteys2 celebrate that.  For the rest of us, including deeply guilt-ridden (but never forgiven) white folks, it is an occasion for deep mourning.  The second was the remark about children keeping things in perspective.  On it's face, it's a cute, cuddly cliché.  But the truth is, they don't.  Children are rather notorious for having very little perspective, almost as little as say, the Nobel Prize committee. After weeks of dithering about Afghanistan, and at the end of a week that began with the deaths of eight servicemen in a ferocious assault by the Taliban, a week that included statements from the White House that the Taliban were not the enemy,  it's fair to  say that Sasha and Malia's contribution to the President's perspective was off the mark.  The president used their remark to  devalue the honor that had been bestowed on him.  Oh wait- you thought he was taking a stab at humility!  Nah. Real perspective and an understanding of what constitutes accomplishment would have forced him to decline the award.  But this is a man who has never really accomplished anything- except winning elections- and being richly rewarded for his non-accomplishments.  We'll never know his grades, or who funded his education, or who wrote his first book, but we do know what he said about his real job at Altgelt Gardens.  Accomplishment: After three years of "community action," got City of Chicago to agree that they were responsible for fixing the plumbing [but the plumbing never got fixed.] Legislative record: Present. 

1 Mandatory disclaimer:  the views expressed by the show are not necessarily held by NBC or its parent company, GE: as a matter of fact, if the show were to do a skit about that, it would be something along the lines of "Barry been bery bery good to me."

2 Who, incidentally, are all against the President's Healthcare plan.  Speaking of which...

Comments

[Michael Adams]

You betcha I noticed! I'd have sent an e-mail to inquire after your health, but I figured that if you were too busy or sick to blog, you would be too much of either to answer an e-mail. Delighted to see this week's installment.

[bbmoe]

I'm busy in a way that you would appreciate (no, not sheetrocking my house) but I'm also recovering from an injury to my arm, best described as a metasticizing tennis elbow. Major inflammation. I still have to be careful but it's definitely on the mend. I just can't type too too long.

Thanks for posting!

[aelfheld]

"Children are rather notorious for having very little perspective, almost as little as say, the Nobel Prize committee."

I think you're being unfair to children.

And giving entirely too much credit to the Nobel Prize committee.