Obama Distraction

[Rylant]

To my mind, it's not a question of what he 'should do'. It's a question of how to interpret particular comments. IMO, how we interpret the hypothetical where someone very close to Obama dies isn't really much of an issue. It would (and should) be obvious to us that there's no ulterior motive - he'd be expressing difficult sentiments that he has to express because he's a public figure. - sentiments he would almost certainly prefer to keep private.

The Robin Williams case is interesting because it's borderline (Obama comments about some public deaths and not others). Why? Is the original hypothesis believable for this borderline case?

I guess my question becomes, Why is that considered "borderline"? My point is, Williams was obviously an important figure to a lot of Americans; why would people consider it inappropriate for him to talk about in a respectable manner? Obama LOVES NCAA basketball; does anybody freak out when he fills out a VERY publicized March Madness bracket? Or when he hosts the Boston Red Sox after winning the world series? How much do these things have to do with politics? Are these things not also "inappropriate" for the President to be involved with?

Rylant

[doulos]

I agree Rylant.

[dejeanneret]

Holy mother this is a long thread. Have to admit that I haven't made it through the whole thing yet, but if it hasn't been said before:

Yes, the POTUS and others with a platform should be talking about Williams' death. Not solely because they liked Good Will Hunting, Ms. Doubtfire, or Mork & Mindy or any of the other works with which Williams was involved, but because this is yet another prime example of how deadly dangerous depression and other mental health issues are. They still don't get the attention they merit, and I dare say it's at damn near critical levels with disastrous consequences seen all too often (and many times, involving more victims than just the one unsuccessfully battling mental illness).

[PensInThree]

I guess my question becomes, Why is that considered "borderline"? My point is, Williams was obviously an important figure to a lot of Americans; why would people consider it inappropriate for him to talk about in a respectable manner? Obama LOVES NCAA basketball; does anybody freak out when he fills out a VERY publicized March Madness bracket? Or when he hosts the Boston Red Sox after winning the world series? How much do these things have to do with politics? Are these things not also "inappropriate" for the President to be involved with?

Rylant

Borderline is probably the wrong word, as I suppose it implies what Obama should or should not speak about. Still, I think you're missing the point.

Here's the issue in a nutshell. It's about what the meaning of Obama's speech is. I'm not sure it means what you think it means. I'm concerned that when something like this speech happens around the same time as something else that should be news, maybe it is in part intended to direct attention away from something like bombings.

What I'm trying to run with here is the idea of political duplicity - or at least that potential. The original hypothesis was: here are two things that happened in close proximity - does that seem strange to anyone? Doesn't that seem strange to you? Or is it just coincidence?

I'm not even convinced that there was actual duplicity here. One thing I do believe though is that the political machine does use these tactics at times. It's fascinating to me that when people try to bring up the issue of political duplicity, somehow both Obama's humanness and his right to talk publicly about what he wants get defended.

[Loch]

Holy mother this is a long thread. Have to admit that I haven't made it through the whole thing yet, but if it hasn't been said before:

Yes, the POTUS and others with a platform should be talking about Williams' death. Not solely because they liked Good Will Hunting, Ms. Doubtfire, or Mork & Mindy or any of the other works with which Williams was involved, but because this is yet another prime example of how deadly dangerous depression and other mental health issues are. They still don't get the attention they merit, and I dare say it's at damn near critical levels with disastrous consequences seen all too often (and many times, involving more victims than just the one unsuccessfully battling mental illness).

Well said. And even if it had been said before it is worth repeating (I honestly don't know if it was mentioned).