Althouse: "There are three problems with this unbearable metaphor: Barack Obama is not in captivity, he’s not a bear, and he’s not loose."

July 16, 2014

"There are three problems with this unbearable metaphor: Barack Obama is not in captivity, he’s not a bear, and he’s not loose."

"As Voltaire said of the Holy Roman Empire, it was 'neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.'"

Maureen Dowd takes on the "bear is loose" idiocy that we were talking about here and here a few days ago.

27 comments:

Mark said...: Wow, that was poorly written. However, it's interesting that Pravda on Hudson saw fit to print a very critical piece on his Oneness.

Guess they're ramping up to Full Hillary! mode.; 7/16/14, 8:12 AM
PB said...: He like to see himself as a bear? Fine. From now on it's Yogi the Barack and his little pal Booboo Biden out stealing picnic baskets (from the middle class because only they head out to national parks to picnic. The rich jet off to Banff).; 7/16/14, 8:18 AM
Wince said...: If Obama is a "the bear", the USA is the woods.

And he's shitting all over it.; 7/16/14, 8:21 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Why does anyone care about this?

The President is "the bear"? Oh my.

Sometimes, understanding white people's interests just doesn't seem worth it,...; 7/16/14, 8:34 AM
Henry said...: First five paragraphs are good, then it becomes incoherent. The blurbs are commonplace and the allusions fall flat.

Paragraph 6 is where it goes wrong: So where’s the Oval Office holodeck?

A hologram is not a holodeck. Narendra Modi’s hologram is a broadcast projection. Star Trek's holodeck is a closet.; 7/16/14, 8:52 AM
Anonymous said...: Sometimes, understanding white people's interests just doesn't seem worth it,...

The Bore is loose.; 7/16/14, 9:00 AM
Anonymous said...: A lot of people can't bear a fall from Obama without a safe landing onto Hillary, Elizabeth Warren, or at least a tremendous amount of Republican-bashing.

The world just wasn't ready for that much racial healing, modern moral progress and political genius all rolled into one.; 7/16/14, 9:06 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: WOuld a parade float of a bear pooping in a library be considered racist?; 7/16/14, 9:28 AM
rhhardin said...: Obama is an Erab.; 7/16/14, 9:29 AM
William said...: Isn't there a point in time when that old saw about the Holy Roman Empire becomes a cliche and not a witticism. I'm reminded of the English cricket referee who refused to ever let his son sit on his lap. It was said that the son never sat on the British umpire......"The bear is loose" is a kind of scary metaphor and not at all in keeping with Obama's regal, controlled appearance. "Nero is jamming" is perhaps a more appropriate metaphor. Obama could hire one of those Central American kids to walk behind him carrying a parasol to shield him from the sun. The kid could be instructed to periodically whisper in his ear that "You are not a god". It doesn't require much English and it's one of those dirty jobs that Americans like Maureen Dowd are no longer willing to do.; 7/16/14, 9:36 AM
Clyde said...: "There is a bear in the woods..."

I'd say that the Obama bear is at least as dangerous to America as that Russian bear ever was.; 7/16/14, 9:47 AM
jacksonjay said...: It's early, but surely Paul Zrimsek is the winner!; 7/16/14, 9:47 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: William for the win at 9:36. Especially this:

"Nero is jamming" is perhaps a more appropriate metaphor.

And:

The kid could be instructed to periodically whisper in his ear that "You are not a god". It doesn't require much English and it's one of those dirty jobs that Americans like Maureen Dowd are no longer willing to do.

Sweet. Succinct.; 7/16/14, 9:58 AM
Hagar said...: I think Obama considers himself to be more of a symbol than a CEO; the actual governing is to be done in and by the agencies, and his job is mainly to make speeches and prevent the Republicans from getting anyone into the White House - just occupy the chair, so to speak.
So he might well feel restless and "unfulfilled," especially as they know by now that, barring a miracle, the Republicans will take back the Senate this fall, and Harry Reid will no longer be there to act as the troll under the bridge.; 7/16/14, 10:21 AM
FullMoon said...: Dowd mentions the pool game photo op.
I am going to take that as permission to say they Obama has no stroke, and does not know how to make a closed bridge. Kinda like the shooting range photo op awhile back. Makes him look incompetent.
I spent a little time Cochrans pool hall and Palace Billiards in the Tenderloin and I never met a black guy who could not shoot a decent game of pool
His handlers should have more sense than to allow him to embarrass himself like that.
Even Crack will agree.; 7/16/14, 10:36 AM
Mark Nielsen said...: jacksonjay: "It's early, but surely Paul Zrimsek is the winner!"

I'll second that. Best chuckle I've had all morning.; 7/16/14, 10:56 AM
Hagar said...: For the next 2½ years the Democrats will be just playing out the clock.; 7/16/14, 11:01 AM
Paul said...: "It's early, but surely Paul Zrimsek is the winner!"

Yes, and if AA wasn't such a leftist hypocrite she would ban him for being excruciatingly boring, if not for his naked bigotry. It's further proof that Thomas Sowell was right when he said that liberals use blacks and minorities as mascots.; 7/16/14, 11:25 AM
Drago said...: Crack: "Sometimes, understanding white people's interests just doesn't seem worth it,..."

LOL

Crack tries to pretend "The Bear is Loose" isn't obama's idea and being pushed by obama's pals.

Well, as Judge Smails said, the world needs ditch diggers too!; 7/16/14, 12:32 PM
Richard Dolan said...: "press centipede"

Every now and then, MODO comes up with an interestingly odd-ball turn of phrase. From her perch at the NYT, I assume she can tell that the press is more centipede-y than, say, cockroach-y, measured against some appropriate scale of disgustingness. However you come out on that, she's surely right that the sycophantic press travelling with Obama is definitely the sort of bug that you just want to step on.; 7/16/14, 12:41 PM
hombre said...: Couple this with the Chelsea dump and it looks like Maureen is in the tank for Fauxcahontas and smoothing the way for her to distance herself from Barack.; 7/16/14, 1:55 PM
hombre said...: The Crack: "Sometimes, understanding white people's interests just doesn't seem worth it,..."

Obama refers to himself as "the bear" and it's about "white people?"

Maybe Crack is confused between "white people" and the "White House" - you know, where "the bear" lives.; 7/16/14, 2:10 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: "Barack Obama is not in captivity, he’s not a bear, and he’s not loose."

I might give her the bear part, but it seems to me he's either in captivity or loose, one or the other. Of course, as a feminist Dowd is unconstrained by logic, that evil construct of the patriarchy.; 7/16/14, 3:24 PM
lonetown said...: If Down had put her talent before her politics, she might have been good.; 7/16/14, 5:42 PM
Zach said...: Leaving aside the metaphorical appropriateness of calling Obama a bear (He's skinny, seems somewhat frail, has peevish and angry body language, and often seems constrained by events -- all of these are the opposite of a stout, powerfully built, good natured bear who does whatever he wants), it's a strange messaging strategy.

The idea that the public is greatly concerned that Obama isn't getting enough R&R is, franky, bizarre. Who really cares if Obama is constrained by the job or free to wander around and drink beer? Eisenhower was his own chief of staff, while Reagan took naps in the afternoon. Both had successes, so it's hard to favor one over the other.

Is the liberated Obama supposed to be a metaphor for governing through executive orders? He no longer has to go to meetings or deal with Congress, and that means he has more time to deal with everyday people? That seems like a really nonintuitive leap.

Looking at the world today, there's a crisis in Ukraine, there's a crisis at the border. Iraq is a disaster, and the Israelis and Palestinians are fighting again. The economy is persistently underachieving. Naively, you would want to say that the President is hard at work, right? Why promote leisure activities when there's work to be done?; 7/16/14, 7:18 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: He's bearly interested in doing his job.; 7/16/14, 9:04 PM
oleh said...: I must assume this is getting a lot of play:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kQbG5sB30Po; 7/16/14, 10:59 PM