We saw it coming during the election: a broadcast news media simultaneously energized, confused and confounded by the candidacy of Barack Hussein Obama. There was first the “not narrative.” “He’s not experienced enough.” “He’s not black enough.” “He’s not been in public office long enough.” “He’s not American.” And then the “not narrative” morphed into the “too” narrative. “He’s too liberal.” “He’s too exotic.” “He’s too unknown.”
Meanwhile, back at the election box, Obama kept piling victory on top of victory. Not to be undone by reality, many in the media begin to draw lines in the sand, and, to mix a metaphor, raise the bar for success. Lines in the sand: “well if he can’t put this thing away, I don’t know what that says about his ability to win the general election.” Even after compiling enough votes to win the Democratic Nomination, various narratives were invented—it begin to sound like an Eric Von Danigan treatises in which the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza is attributed to extra-terrestrials.
And, perhaps, drinking from the same kool-aid, the writers at Saturday Night Live reprised the crazy woman in Minnesota who said that she couldn’t vote for Obama because she heard he was an Arab (as if that in-itself was a non-starter—making the Arab American a 21st century addition to the “nigger ranks”). In the SNL skit, the crazy woman wondered around the news set, remarking that she had heard that Obama was part Egyptian, and that he planned to turn the White House into a pyramid. Imagine that!
Stay tuned for sports fans. We’re in for an exciting ride.
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