In the short time we’ve had with 2015, two high profile politicians have already stepped down from their post in varying degrees of disgrace. A governor and congressman have resigned from office in the last seven weeks, one as an ethics commission investigates whether or not he broke ethics laws when his fiance received state contracts, and the other after admitting to tax evasion from a life prior to his time in politics. And now, I’m going to connect those two acts of crime... with President Obama’s BuzzFeed video for the Affordable Care Act. And by acknowledging the anachronism, I hope to convey that this isn’t just an utterly insane rant against the President of the United States, but rather an even-tempered, well thought-out rant against the President of the United States.
Now, I’ve heard the case for this video. That it was actually a brilliant move to take his affordable health insurance market pitch to where the young people are, his target audience. But let’s be honest, he didn’t have to do it himself. He has a cadre of celebrities that could have garnered the same attention to it. Heck, his teenage daughters, who are actually where the young people are in that they’re young people, could have done something and it would have been as successful. Maybe even more so, considering it would have been the debut appearance of the Obama girls on the public stage. I can’t say why the President decided to do it himself. I have thoughts, but it’s just conjecture, and more importantly this really isn’t a rant against the President nor an attack on his character. The issues with this video are deeper and bigger than him.
First, it was a shameless sales pitch by the President for his policy, a far cry from the days when Presidents found it beneath the dignity of the office to campaign on their own behalf. Okay, that one does seem to be a shot at the President’s character, but the truth is that issue is not specific to this politician or this video. Too many politicians mine the depths of dignity today. What we saw in this video, though, specifically, was our President acting the fool: winking at himself in the mirror, sticking his tongue out at himself, shooting finger guns at himself while modeling aviators and, worst of all, posing for selfies. These are things the video bills as “Things Everyone Does But Doesn’t Talk About,” and that premise takes us to the larger issues.
I want you to consider that title and think about all the things that you do but don’t talk about… Yep, all of that. Is that the person you want as your Commander-in-Chief? Representing America on an international stage? Being the face of human rights and dignity? Dealing with the Islamic State and negotiating with Iran over nuclear weapons? That person doesn’t really inspire confidence, does it? And that touches on the bigger concern: it’s not very inspiring, at all.
The video is meant to humanize the President, but should the Leader of the Free World be humanized? Humans make mistakes. They have deficiencies, flaws and faults. They even commit crimes. They give favor to loved ones. They skim a little off the top to keep some of their hard-earned earned money. And they can be forgiven for that because, hey, they’re only human. We all make mistakes. But politicians need to be more more than just a person. They need to be better than us. To represent thousands or millions of people, you need to be more than a mere human, you need to be super-human. You need to be someone we can be proud to look up to and follow. Someone who inspires.
The President of the United States is supposed to inspire people, particularly young people, probably more than anyone else in our country. And because of certain circumstances, this President has been given the opportunity to inspire more young people than any President before him. And these young people all across the country are supposed to look up at this man and say, “One day, I want to be the President of the United States.” They shouldn’t say, “Ya, I’m already there. In fact, I should take a picture of this.” Leave it to the selfie generation to put a premium on being just like us, right?
Yes, we’re all told we’re perfect just the way we are, but we’re not. Not really. And if you believe you are, then you’re probably insufferable. The truth is, we can always improve. We should never rest on our laurels. We should always strive to be better. And our leaders and our heroes are the ones who are supposed to inspire us to strive to that next level. They’re not mutants or aliens or gods that represent a perfection we can’t attain, but real people who have overcome the basest of human deficiencies to rise above. Someone we can actually pin up as a model to emulate. Of us, but the best of us. But when our heroes are just like the rest of us, then what do we strive towards when we’re already where we need to be?
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