Obama’s Birth Certificate

I am not inclided to engage conspiracy theorists (Ed Morrissey does a fine job here).  I’d search the Obama-isn’t-eligible-to-be-President sites myself to see if any of these crackpots have even attempted to an offer an explanation, besides a vague concern for the intergrity of the Constitution, about what the danger of a foreign-born President, duly elected by the American people, actually is.  But I don’t think I can stomach five seconds at any of these sites.

Whenever I’m confronted by xenophobic, born-in-America drivel, I’m always reminded of my favorite story about Ayn Rand, as told by Cato’s David Boaz:

When a heckler asked her at a public speech, “Why should we care what a foreigner thinks?”, she replied with her usual fire, “I chose to be an American. What did you ever do, except for having been born?”

I’d love to ask that question to anybody challenging the President-elect’s patriotism.

Far Left?

Two good points by Ta-Nehisi Coates (emphasis mine)

OK, I went and read it after I decided to post. Am I the only not surprised that, in the midst of economic calamity and two wars, Obama’s going with some experienced hands? I feel like I keep reading this  “Newsflash: Barack Obama isn’t a leftie” story since the primaries. I never thought he was really to the left of Hillary Clinton. He just happened to be anti-war. That isn’t the same thing.

And:

How are the things after the “but” in opposition to what precedes it? Buchanan opposed the Iraq War. Hitchens supported it, but thinks Hillary would be awful. The thing that’s bugging me is Obama’s early nominations had swung hard left, whatever that would be, there’d be a ton of stories with headlines like “Obama abandons bipartisanship” and ledes like “He ran on change and bipartisanship, but President-Elect Obama has veered sharply to the left…”

Armisen’s Obama

Jocelyn Guest, on SNL’s Obama:

While Armisen handily pulled off the arduous task of poking fun at a man we’d follow off a cliff, many critics agreed that his interpretation left a little something to be desired. Fred neither looks nor sounds quite like Barry.

The New Yorker’s Kelefa Sanneh put it this way: “[Armisen] speeds up at the end of a phrase to make everything he says seem declarative, and the way he frowns as a sign that he’s listening intently—but not much more; his Obama has no backstory.” Because the rest of the political impressions on the show have been so spot on this season—Tina Fey’s Palin, Jason Sudeikis’ crazy-eyed Joe Biden—an imperfect Obama stands out. With four-years of Barack-baiting to go, it might be time for Michaels to let go of Armisen and pick a replacement. So now big question looms: Who, If anyone, shouuld Michaels hire to match the hype surrounding Obama himself?

Darrell Hammond’s Bill Clinton aside, most SNL presidential impressions have never been particularly accurate.  We still remember Dana Carvey’s George H.W. Bush not because he actually sounded or looked like the man but because he spoke to our idea of him.

As for the two impressions from this season Sanneh praises, Fey’s Palin works so well not just because Fey looks and sounds a lot like Palin (and she does, of course), but because Palin is an easy target.  The jokes practically write themselves.  Likewise with Joe Biden.  Sudeikis’ impression isn’t nearly as precise (in appearance, voice, mannerisms) as Armisen’s Obama.  But it’s funny because Biden is funny.  Obama isn’t.

The bigger problem is that since Fey left to go do 30 Rock, SNL’s writing has suffered tremendously.  Despite the immensely talented cast, SNL typically only has two or three genuinely funny sketches.

Isn’t Corruption Fun?

The New Republic’s John Judis on Obama’s selection of Bill Richardson as Secretary of Commerce:

I was never crazy about Richardson as Secretary of State for reasons I no longer need to enumerate, but I think he’s a perfect choice for Secretary of Commerce. He is an experienced governor; he has run a cabinet department; and he is, above all, an effective pol in a job that is highly political. The Secretary of Commerce is as close as you get to what the Postmaster General used to be. I know one shouldn’t say this aloud, but he is the cabinet officer in the best position to reward supporters and significant constituencies with money and contracts. And he represents a very important Democratic constituency.

Emphasis mine.  You’re right — you shouldn’t say that aloud.  For that matter, you shouldn’t even be thinking it.

Obama, Use the Pardon

Clemency expert Margaret Colgate Love:

Well, I think it would be preferable, in my view, if the president used the power more regularly to benefit ordinary people and he used it to help the public understand how the justice system works. . . And so I think it’s kind of distracting when you get a lot of celebrities who are applying who would not ordinarily be eligible under the Department of Justice’s own regulations. . . .