There seems to be an effort, conscious or unconscious, on the part of Barack Obama to portray himself as JFK 2.0. He likes to cherry-picks certain historical events involving the former president as justification for his own views. His demeanor, charm, eloquence, and family (attractive wife, two lovely younger children) all invite comparisons with the man who’s abruptly abbreviated time in the White House was referred to as “Camelot”.
interestingly the origins of the connection between JFK and Camelot appear to have come from Jackie Kennedy, and only after JFK’s death (whereas Obama seems to want to perform a self-coronation). The comparison is certainly not surprising when one considers that the Broadway show, Camelot opened just a couple weeks after JFK’s inauguration and the song “Camelot” seems to have been a favorite of his. http://ask.yahoo.com/19990809.html
But beyond appearances there is little to commend a comparison between Obama and JFK. Larry Elder has a wonderful piece this week on Townhall.com showing little doubt that if he were alive today, JFK would have been much more at home in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. http://townhall.com/Columnists/LarryElder/2008/09/04/jfk_democrats_role_model?page=1
I think in this case as with so many things about Barack Obama, he is a just a paper King Arthur – a life-sized cut-out, a cheap knock-off, a spoof of the original item, insisting to his followers that he also pulled the sword from the stone. But the comparison is only skin-deep and when I look at him I don’t think of Camelot so much as I do Spamelot.
September 4th, 2008 12:32 pm
If somebody put the sword back in the stone, and you pull it again, does that count.
September 5th, 2008 10:18 am
Sure, if you think you’re living in Camelot, ANTHING is possible!