Newsweek describes the president: “he’s sort of God”
Back in November, Evan Thomas of Newsweek noticed a “slightly creepy cult of personality” in the worship of Obama. How times change:
in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above –- above the world, he’s sort of God…the President’s speech yesterday was the reason we Americans elected him. It was grand. It was positive. Hopeful…But what I liked about the President’s speech in Cairo was that it showed a complete humility…The question now is whether the President we elected and spoke for us so grandly yesterday can carry out the great vision he gave us and to the world…Reagan was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is ‘we are above that now.’ We’re not just parochial, we’re not just chauvinistic, we’re not just provincial…He’s going to bring all different sides together…Obama is trying to sort of tamper everything down. He doesn’t even use the word terror. He uses extremism. He’s all about let us reason together…He’s the teacher. He is going to say, ‘now, children, stop fighting and quarreling with each other.’ And he has a kind of a moral authority that he…can do that.
Evan Thomas once said that media coverage was worth “maybe 15 points” to the Democratic candidate in an election. Is that still true when the media elite sound sillier than teenage girls?
For a different take on the One’s speech in Cairo, we recommend this piece by Scott Johnson.