When the latest example of Americans Gone Wild in the presence of our commander-in-chief crossed my radar I had to go to the videotape to see it for myself. And like past transgressions, this one was not pretty.
In the clip, an off-camera reporter named Neil Munro from the Daily Caller can be heard repeatedly interrupting President Obama during an immigration policy announcement in the Rose Garden. I wouldn't go so far as to characterize the outburst as "heckling" or "racist", as have Munro's colleagues in the press corps, but it was obnoxious.
Here's a brief excerpt in case you missed it:
Munro: "Why'd you favor foreigners over Americans?"
Obama: "Excuse me, Sir, but it's not time for questions."
Munro: "Are you going to take questions?"
Obama: "Not while I'm speaking."
As usual, Mr. Obama maintained his composure and grace in spite of the etiquette breach and brazen disrespect for the Office of the Presidency. This, in spite of Munro's casual posture, literally and figuratively, at a formal affair. And in spite of the fact that the reporter, who is an Irish-born naturalized American citizen, knows better than most that "foreigner" and "American" need not be diametrically opposed concepts (not to mention how incendiary such language can be in an already heated debate) yet willfully chose to play the role of skunk at the garden party.
Unfortunately, this was just another day on the job for Barack Obama.
Like many, I admire the president's Cool Hand Luke-under-pressure instincts. I really do. By the same token, am I the only person who fantasizes that one of these days the South Side of Chicago will rise up in our leader when provoked? That Obama's less-temperate twin, Barry From the Block, might emerge and open up a can of whup ass at the first sign of impertinence?
Or, at the very least, that quicker than POTUS could say "I beg your pardon?!" the next time some miscreant dares address the president in a manner not befitting his status the Secret Service would toss them out of the Rose Garden and back under their bridge with the rest of the trolls.
That's not too much to ask, is it?
That's not too much to ask, is it?
Alas, t'is...
My juvenile revenge fantasies notwithstanding, I am my mother's child and she instilled the belief that two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, the more temperate part of my brain knows that if the president were to mirror the social cues of South Carolina's Joe "You Lie!" Wilson, Arizona's Jan "I'll Stick My Finger Wherever I Damn Well Please" Brewer, or Neil "Watch Me Make & Defile My Name, Reputation and Profession in One Fell Scoop" Munro, we'd all be damned to life under that bridge.
And that destiny, dear reader, is one change none of us can afford to believe in.
Gaily,
ReplyDeleteI read about this incident. Thank you for addressing the matter with your usual directness, class and humor.
Such behavior is simply disgraceful and pathetic.
It used to be that adults held themselves responsible for proper conduct especially in public. Human grace and civility are sadly lacking. From whom do your children learn?
Wisdom prevails in the White House for all the right reasons.