One of the reasons that Barack Obama is doing so well is that he seems to be a different kind of politician. One who doesn't get caught up in the politicing. One who, when confronted with the made up process story that he turned his back on Senator Clinton the other night, simply responded that it wasn't what it seemed. He didn't get contentious. He got believable. Like when he talked about wishing he had gone third when asked what his biggest weakness was. The other two talked about how their biggest weaknesses were that they "cared too much". He said he has a messy desk.
I think people want that. And I think the moment that we embraced transparancy might have been when Jon Stewart guested on Crossfire.
6 months later the show was gone. According to Wikipedia: When asked about the cancellations, CNN/US' incoming President, Jonathan Klein, said about Stewart’s appearance on the show, "I think he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day."
Here is Jon Stewart on that episode of Crossfire. Still one of my favorite moments in the history of American television.
2 comments:
This is very great stuff - the greatest moment still belongs to Colbert's press club address, I think, but Jon Stewart has the better show of the two, so it all evens out.
More importantly, I think you certainly hit the nail on the head about Obama. He comes off as calm, capable, honest, often candid, someone who can improvise, someone who does not seem like his first response is to bullshit you.
The only president we've had like that in the last . . . forever . . . was Jimmy Carter, who was, unfortunately, not up to the job, even though he's a decent, intelligent guy (the job was, in his defense, pretty impossible at the time). I actually think the job is a little more of a no-brainer and it doesn't take a genius visionary to do it right, just someone with some charisma and the desire to at least try and do the right thing, which makes Obama more than qualified for the position.
As a Clintonian I, of course, want Hillary. But, the more I think about it, the more I sway back and forth between.
I definitely think I was caught up in the "magic" for a few days and then I came back to reality. But what I am really thinking now is....this seems like a guy who could truly unite the parties. He could speak across party lines.
That, in and of itself, is reason to vote for the guy.
Plus we haven't had a good assassination in this country for more than 40 years. And no attempt since 1981.
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