Barack Obama - Late Night Talk Show Host?

I wrote this for Salon in response to Paglia's article on Obama, and thought I'd share it with you, my enlightened readers . . .


Barack Obama, a candidate for replacing Jay Leno on the late night talk show circuit, or just another contestant in the American Idol franchise? Take your pick; either way you can be a winner.

What Ms. Paglia is discovering is that Barack is entertaining. Have you noticed the body language on stage? Conan O'Brien could be his mentor.

Or the joke-laced monologues now flowing as "campaign speeches?" From the day he blew his nose and the house erupted in applause, mavens of modern politics knew that America threw out info, and settled for tainment. It's fun to go to Barack's shows; J. I. Packer's Hot Tub Religion is now playing as Hot Tub Politics. It feeeels sooo goood to soak in the warmth.

Why does this surprise anyone? The Republican problem isn't a lack of leaders, it's a lack of entertaining lead players who can wow a crowd and leave them in stitches. When America's voters know more about Brittney's lack of undies than they do about Putin's lack of morals, when they know more about a no-talent singer with a frumped-up hairdo than they know about the frumped-up balance sheet at the Fed, when they know more about Desperate Housewives than they know about desperate homeowners, why is anyone surprised that the criteria for proclaiming the next president is not substance, but sizzle?

Barack Obama: late night talk show host, American Idol, or POTUS; in 2008 all that matters is that you leave them laughing . . . all the way to the Inauguration. He's just sooo entertaining.
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In reviewing my other posts, I came across this post that goes far deeper into the phenomena of Barack Obama's celebrity rise; it's by Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post Writer's Group, an MSM syndicate if ever there was one. Take time to read what she wrote in February, and see how precise was her interpretation of the Obama Effect:

Barack Hussein Obama becomes our political messiah

http://kennethelamb.blogspot.com/2008/02/barack-hussein-obama-becomes-our.html
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