Okay, so we know that President Obama has given himself a “good, solid B+” on his first year in the presidency.
He also said he gives better gifts than he gets.
“I have given some good gifts — you get some nice stuff — here’s the general rule: I give nicer stuff than I get.”
Let’s put aside the fact that the “general rule” did not apply to the UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown (who received a a collection of DVD’s not formatted to Europe or to Elizabeth II, (an iPod). I mean, okay, it’s just a “general” rule, but I don’t know, something rubs me the wrong way about that whole sentence.
What sort of person declares that he gives nicer presents than he gets?
A very humble, generous sort of person, he would never mention it.
Is this evidence of something else? Of a person who feels perpetually cheated? I don’t know. I shrug and throw my hands up to heaven on this one. “I give better presents than I get,” is either meaningless or so fraught with ill-will, resentment and narcissism that I can’t wrap my head around it.
There there is this, and I can’t help but think it’s all connected:
President Obama also reminisced about a gift from the father he barely knew — a basketball his father gave on a visit from Kenya.
“It wasn’t until much later in life that I realized, ‘Actually, he gave me that basketball,’ “ he says. “I think there was some cause and effect there in terms of the degree to which I just ended up taking up the sport as a kid who didn’t know his dad.”
As with Bill Clinton, there is a genuine poignancy in the absent-father narrative of Barack Obama’s life, and Obama does not shy away from revealing the internalized grief he felt (and perhaps still feels) at his father’s seeming indifference. I wonder if the “coolness” and distance that we sense from the president is not a reflection of the distance he experienced from his father, or a manifestation of his internal coping skills.
Bill Clinton seems to have dealt with his step-father’s dysfunction and absence by perfecting the “hail fellow, well met” routine – ingratiating himself upon everyone both to hide his pain and get what he wanted. Perhaps Obama, turning inwardly protective, rather than outward, has kept himself so hidden for so long that he is not sure where there is, anymore. When you are living in a shell – or behind a mask – it’s easy to imagine you are somewhere when you are in fact, somewhere else.
And after listening to his angry rant today about “fatcat bankers” I realized our “cool, calm and collected” president is not so far removed from a demagogue. One false move and a mask can slip, no matter how taut the ribbons. And then, who knows what Obama will reveal, to himself, and to us?
Perhaps it is his personal, protective “disconnect” that has put him so astoundingly out-of-touch with the wants and needs of the people he seems intent on ruling, rather than serving. Being that out-of-touch might explain the B+ (A if he passes healthcare) that he gave himself.
Your thoughts?
What the deal with the “I give better presents than I get,” bit?
As to his grade? I don’t know if he is delusional or he’s just living in a better place than the rest of us, but I would not give him a B+
But I won’t tell you, yet, what grade I would give.
How about you?
Well, it might be a bit odd, but I know my dear husband and I tease like that sometimes. So I’m willing to cut him slack on this one.
‘Course, hubby is also wondering what kind of flack he’ll get from feminist-types for giving me an early Christmas present of a stand mixer. You know, chauvinist that he is, buying the little woman (who’s a housewife) kitchen equipment! LOLOL! I was floored with the generosity of the gift, to be honest. It’s exactly what I wanted.
[...] Submitted By: Right Truth – The Anchoress – Pondering and rating Obama [...]
Our Mayor, Mayor Nickels, in Seattle last year, after a colossal messup on getting the roads cleared during a prolonged snowstorm, had the gall to award the citizens (yes, the citizens), a “B” for how “they” handled it. Yep, the whole mess was folded back on the citizens. So now I am wary of any official assigning themselves or their constituents grades. We shouldn’t be given gifts, as we are not ruled by an emperor. By the time a bad grade has been assigned, plenty of time has usually passed in which the problem could have been corrected, and the grading serves more as a feel-good smokescreen.
[...] The Anchoress captured today’s Obamateurism from the Oprah Winfrey interview, in which Barack Obama once again shows us the very essence of humility — by declaring that no one gives him better gifts than those he gives others: “I have given some good gifts — you get some nice stuff — here’s the general rule: I give nicer stuff than I get.” [...]
Obama: stupidly stuck on stupid.
There are many of us in the world who had absentee fathers. I did. It has indeed somewhat colored my ideas about giving. My rule about gifts: Never give something you wouldn’t mind receiving yourself.
I don’t know whether that makes me narcissistic, but my wife certainly likes her Craftsman wrenches and screwdrivers. She returned the train set.
[...] Submitted By: Right Truth – The Anchoress – Pondering and rating Obama [...]
Hot Air: Obamateurism of the Day
link
[...] Obama Daily Presidential Tracking Poll at -19% Real Clear Politics: Grade Inflation? The Anchoress: Pondering and Rating Obama Jules Crittenden: Bad News For Bad Ideas Commentary Magazine: Reid Panics GayPatriot: Harry [...]
[...] “Merry Christmas” Patriotic Resistance, Boycott Best Buy and tell them why The Anchoress: Pondering and Rating Obama Crunch Gear: A storm is brewing at Best Buy Stop The ACLU: Best Buy Ditches ‘Christmas’ But [...]