I think the Greek word hubris denotes the overweening pride that did in so many bad actors, not only in Greek mythology, but throughout history. It's something like getting an A+ in self esteem while getting an F in basic math. The Roman poet Ovid played on this theme and created Narcissus, the little lad with the positive self-esteem who fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water and drowned and the pride that goeth before that fall is called narcissism which brings us to Obama. It would be a come down, more of a come down than he apparently can bear, to deliver his acceptance speech from a mere basketball stadium so his speech, on the concluding night of the convention, will come from Bank of America stadium. The greatest orator of our time, with the aid of teleprompter, electronic echo, and probably plastic columns, will attempt to recreate the rocky mountain high of Invesco Field four years previous. Surely the Democrats can round up 80,000 Obamabots to serve as a backdrop while the one percent view him from their private sky boxes.
All great men have had their critics but it should give one pause when the criticism comes from friends.
“God almighty, I can’t believe it.” said one top Democratic fundraiser when he learned of the decision to move the speech to Bank of America stadium, where the NFL Carolina Panthers play their football games. “This is an amateur’s mistake.”…
“It’s a surprising and disappointing choice,” said Mary Boyle, vice president of Common Cause. “Bank of America is the poster child for corporate greed and corporations out-of-control. The president would be better served by choosing a large public space with no corporate logo attached to it.”Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a group that lobbies against corporate influence, added: “Speaking at a stadium named for one of the financial firms that plunged our country into deep recession, we can only hope that Barack Obama will counter the optics by laying out a meaningful plan to control the Wall Street giants.”
Right Mr. Weissman it would be the perfect time to bring up Dodd-Frank 2.0 and maybe Michelle can tell us about the fun she had on her Hawaiian vacation since none of this makes any political sense anyway.
Ha! This is your best takedown yet! Hilarious. I LOLed.
ReplyDeleteObviously you've had the benefit of a classic education. As I read it, I was wondering how many college students would even know what you were talking about.
Actually it's genetic. My father who had only one year of college was the most literate man I ever knew. All the Getty kids started school knowing who Ben Johnson and Percy Shelly were, not because it was taught but because dad recited poetry incessantly. Google Father Wilzbacher essay contest. That is named for my uncle on my mother's side of the family. I hardly knew him since he spent most of his adult life in India where he taught English.
ReplyDelete