With a little love, and some tenderness
We’ll walk upon the water
We’ll rise above this mess
With a little peace, and some harmony
We’ll take the world together
We’ll take ‘em by the hand
That’s the opening verse to Hootie and the Blowfish’s breakthrough single “Hold My Hand.” I remember 1994 quite clearly. This unknown band from South Carolina came out of nowhere. Soon they were on constant rotation on the radio, VH1, and even ESPN. You couldn’t escape the Blowfish. At first, the ubiquitous presence of Hootie and the aforementioned Blowfish didn’t seem to bother anyone. In fact, we couldn’t get enough of them. They weren’t one-hit wonders. Their second single “Let Her Cry” was even better than “Hold My Hand.” Blowfish singer Darius Rucker (who will always hold a special place in my heart for this) has a great voice. The band’s third single was “Only Want to be With” and it was their biggest hit. The video featured celebrities and ESPN’s Sportscenter. It seemed like America would always love Hootie and the Blowfish. Their debut album, Cracked Rear View, went on to sell over 16 million copies, they won a Grammy for “Best New Artist,” and they appeared on MTV Unplugged.
The follow-up album Fairweather Johnson was a disappointment, but not because it was bad. The first single was a relative success. People were just tired of Hootie. The band broke one of the cardinal rules of Rock ‘n Roll, and of celebrity in general. Do not become overexposed. You have to leave the audience wanting more. If you give people something for free long enough they get tired of it, kind of like public housing and Katie Couric. Does this apply to politics? Well, we’re about to find out. President Obama could and may already have become the Hootie and the Blowfish of presidential politics. They share a few things in common…
Reference the opening verse to “Hold My Hand” I mentioned earlier. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to put those words in Obama’s mouth. In fact, if you close your eyes, empty your mind of all extraneous thoughts, and substitute the soothing and melodic voice of Hootie, or whatever that guy’s name is, with Obama’s teleprompting one, you’ll fine that it’s basically every speech Obama has ever given. It a) sounds great; b) promises peace and harmony; and, c) means practically nothing.
The Katie Couric reference above might seem strange, but I’m sorry, the very mention of her name cracks me up.
Next Tuesday Obama could save everyone a lot of time and just sing “Hold My Hand.” I’m sure the talking heads on MSNBC would call it the greatest speech in American history. At some point the American people will suffer Obama fatigue. People will get tired of seeing him all the time. The last time a president gave a speech before a joint session of Congress that wasn’t a State of the Union was two weeks after the attacks of September 11. What is the crisis that is causing Obama to give a speech? His presidency? Health care is an important issue, but so is the solvency of Social Security.
Obama is burning up the mystique of the White House. Since his inauguration he’s given three prime-time press conferences and a State of the Union address, let NBC and ABC rent the White House, bounced the first pitch at the All Star Game, submitted a bracket on ESPN, and appeared on the Tonight Show. In other words, the President has had a lot of air time to get his message out. At this rate it’s conceivable that the White House could have its own float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, a Christmas Special on all the networks, and for the President to replace Ryan Seacrest at Times Square for the New Year’s Eve festivities.
President Obama needs to pull back and leave the audience waiting for more. Otherwise he’ll end up doing commercials for Burger King.
These things happen sometimes, but it’s still funny to point out. If you’re going to post a press release about education on the White House website at least proofread it first. I imagine this will be fixed soon.
The following headline from CNN caught my attention: “Obama considers major speech on health care, aide says.” How many “major speeches” has the President given so far? What has he said that’s remotely memorable? “Hope,” “change,” and “yes we can” might be memorable, but they’re not exactly full of substance. For the past two months the President has campaigned for health care. On September 9th he’s going to give a speech before Congress. During his campaign he’s continued to mislead the public about the health care plans on the table. What can the President possibly say at this point that’s going to change the debate?
This is the first true test of Obama’s young presidency. Will President Obama take a stand? Will he say something specific? Will he tell Congress what he wants? The two biggest achievements this year for the White House have been the stimulus package that turned into a colossal pork bill and the confirmation of Justice Sotomayor. Neither one of these were very popular with the American people. Americans are ready for sensible reform to health care, but the President seems opposed and aloof when it comes to debating real change.
Obama is ready to give a new speech on health care. This time he really means business.
During the campaign Obama promised to take on the special interests and stand up for the little guy, but here we are barely eight months into Obama’s presidency and he’s taken tort reform off the table. Obama doesn’t want to take on the trial lawyers in his own party because he’s just another ordinary politician who is more concerned with his party than with the American people. If you’ve anointed yourself as some kind of “different” politician and you fail to deliver it’s bad for business.
Then there’s the promise of bipartisanship that was a crucial part of the Obama Unicorn. I say Unicorn because it’s mythical creature that no one believes is real, kind of like my generation’s chance of receiving Social Security. Actually, there’s a better chance that Unicorns are real than the chance I ever receive a check for Social Security. With a super majority in both the House and the Senate one would think that demonizing the opposition wouldn’t be a priority. But apparently it is, and is part and parcel with this new era of change and hope that was supposed to change America’s bitter politics and gap the political divide forever in a land called Honah Lee:
Another administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity when discussing strategy, said the new phase was “driven in part by the actions of some in the GOP,” including Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Enzi of Wyoming. The official added the White House believes those actions indicate that these two key Republicans, who are part of a bipartisan group negotiating a health care bill, “are essentially walking away from the table.”
This isn’t news to me, but the Democrat definition of bipartisanship means shut up and agree with them. What else can be gathered from that quote above? What sane Republican (if there are any in Washington) would agree to any of the terrible ideas being thrown about in Congress? The sad reality is that the Congress will likely pass some kind of watered down compromise bill that won’t make the left happy, won’t help, and will make things worse. It won’t matter because, politically at least, Obama will have his “health care reform.” We’ve seen this before; it was called the Prescription Drug Bill passed by President Bush. It’s funny how much change looks the same.
Recent Comments