Jake Tapper notes that frantic Democrats are attempting to add "context" to Barack Obama's latest mega-gaffe. In case you've already forgotten, Obama's latest homage to Himself found Him saying, "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."
Anyhoo, per Tapper, here's the purported context:
"His entire point of that riff was that the campaign is NOT about him," says a House Democratic staffer. The Post "left out the important first half of the sentence which was something along the lines of 'it has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. Its about America. I have just become a symbol.'"
Other staffers with whom I spoke back that up, and a Democratic Congressman who isn't a particular fan of Obama agrees, saying that Obama preceded that quote with something along the lines of, 'Those people in Germany weren't excited about me. They were excited by the prospect of America getting back to being all it could be.'"
So in other words, He meant exactly what He said. The staffer and congressman in question both implicitly posit a straw man, namely that some venal conservatives are saying Obama stated "I represent the possibility of America returning to our best traditions." If in fact any conservatives have misrepresented Obama in this manner, allow me to apologize on behalf of the entire movement.
What Obama said, and what the staffer and congressman confirm, is that in Obama's view, the world has selected Obama as a repository for its hope and dreams. I'm not sure how this shows less ego than the unsupported straw man argument, but there it is anyway.
Obama's observation suggests that the longtime community organizer has concluded the world is composed of Andrew Sullivans - people who are just gaga for him and who believe everything depends on his electoral fate. In truth, for every Andrew Sullivan out there, there are 50 Markos Moulitsasi. Kos will vote for Obama and do so enthusiastically, but like most normal people he views Obama as a politician, not an all-important symbol.
What makes Obama's self-nomination as a global symbol particularly laughable is the kind of cocoon thinking that it represents. Most people are relatively indifferent to politics. Somewhere around half the American population won't even bother to vote in November. And the vast majority of those who do vote will go on with their lives the next day regardless of who won the election.
Being surrounded by adoring sycophants for months on end has apparently warped Obama's perspective. The candidate obviously believes everyone is as wrapped up in Barack Obama as He is.
