Obama: Fame Junkie

by Larry O'Connor

Last week, while trying to rally support for last minute maneuvers designed to push his health care “reform” scheme through the House of Representatives, President Obama made a revealing statement.  “We are going to make history!” he exhorted a crowd at George Mason University.

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Just like that comforting, exhilarating little buzz his brain experiences each time he takes a drag on his ubiquitous cigarettes, and like the electrical surge he probably felt during the days when he experimented with “blow” in his youth, President Obama has found a new addiction to satisfy his undisciplined cravings:  The President is addicted to making history.

In a way, it’s understandable.  Imagine being a state senator from Illinois and within four years you stand astride the world as the most famous political figure of your time.  It’s a rush, baby… here… take another hit, dude.

Oh, he dabbled with some street-level stuff in his youth.  First African-American Editor of the Harvard Law Review?  Yeah, that’s some good stuff.  That’ll give you a good buzz for a while.  But then, he had to settle for some real retro-grade stuff.  Community organizing on the South-side of Chicago?  Man, that’s like Marion Barry level stuff.  That’s not going to satisfy a guy who was raised around all that “Maui-wowie” notoriety.

But then he got a bit of an upgrade with his election to the Illinois statehouse.  But he was clearly bored with that job.  It’s just not history-making enough to be an African-American State Senator of an African-American district in Chicago.  His next big fix was the U.S. Senate.

Now you’re talking some serious buzz.  Especially that high-end rush he got when delivering the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.  I mean, he was only a candidate for Senate at the time, but he felt that first big high.  That taste of the really primo stuff.  Tens-of-thousands shouting his name.  Screaming for him to save the party… no, the country… oh come on…  THE WORLD!

But then, with any addict comes the horrible lows after the monumental highs.  The Senate win was anti-climatic.  And once in the Senate, he was bored within a year.   His Senate seat wasn’t even historical in any real sense since Carol Moseley-Braun had already become the first African-American Democrat elected to the Senate (and she was a woman to boot).  No, it was time for another hit off of that “History-Bong” again.

The Presidential primary campaign delivered an amazing rush.  Must have been like a constant snort of amyl nitrate.  All of those crowds, screaming and fainting for him like he was a rock star.  He must have been so stoned on his “History Dope” when he delivered this speech:

I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal… This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation…

And then, he became President.  History.  More and more history.  The first African-American President in history.  What a rush.  What a buzz.  What a high.  Then, the morning after.  Like any addict searching for his next big fix, President Obama has been appearing desperate, craven, aggressive and hostile.  He is willing to do whatever it takes for that next big high.

He finally found it.  Like Roosevelt with Social Security and Johnson with Medicare, Obama focused on a huge social service entitlement for the next “History-Fix”.  He was so close to getting that fix in December.  When Oprah asked him to grade his first term, instead of demurring like any other President would have and given the appropriate response like “Oh, I don’t worry about things like that.  I’ll let others grade my performance.  And, the American people will have their chance to give me a grade in 2012.” he jumped right out and gave himself a B+!  And, he gave himself an indulgent little taste of the big drug binge he was about to go on by predicting that if he could push through Health Care “Reform”,  he deserved an “A”.  History!  Oh man… he must have had the bed spins!

And right when it looked like Scott Brown had stolen his “primo stash” he turned ugly.  Like any junkie who is denied their next big fix, he did the political equivalent of knocking off a 7-11: He turned to desperate acts which, to the American people, looked petty, conniving, dishonest, and unconstitutional.  He resorted to changing the rules of the game in the last minute of play.  Desperate moves like “Reconciliation” and “Deem and Pass”, free trips on Air Force One, all designed to cram this bill through so he can… make history.

And so now he has.  And let the super-high commence.  This will be a nice trip for a while.  But, we should all be worried about the inevitable crash.  A fame-junkie like this won’t be satisfied by a one-vote win on a flawed law that will likely be over-turned by courts or repealed by the next two election cycles.  No, as soaring as this high is, he’s going to want something new, something big and something even more historic.  Let’s hope it doesn’t involve our troops.


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Posted Mar 21st 2010 at 9:02 pm in Culture, News, Obama, Politics | 110 Comments