Written by President Barack Obama has mistaken his job as Commander in Chief with that of a game show host for Hollywood Squares, where contestants use celebrities as tic-tac-toe pieces to win prizes. While his list of ties to the entertainment industry is long and well documented, last month demonstrated more so than usual just how misplaced this administration’s priorities are. President (and former Hollywood actor) Ronald Reagan had the Kremlin on line one. In 2012, indicators suggest Mr. Obama reserves that spot for whoever is on the latest cover of Entertainment Weekly Magazine.
Only days into the new year, details finally emerged of a 2009 Alice in Wonderland party in the State Dining Room. Director Tim Burton played pricy interior decorator, and Johnny Depp in full Mad Hatter regalia breathed life into the affair. Perhaps no one told the president that if you have to try and keep a lid on the opulence of a party it’s probably too expensive to hold to begin with.
In January, Mr. Obama also took time out of his schedule to write TV star, singer and Hollywood darling Zooey Deschanel a personal birthday card. Voters didn’t need to wonder why for long, because it turns out that the Obama campaign has an extensive “wish list” of Hollywood supporters he’s eying to help carry him over the finish line. George Clooney, Michael Moore, Ben Affleck, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jay-Z are just a few of the pieces Mr. Obama would like to have back on his Campaign 2012 tic-tac-toe board.
Presidential game show hosts also need money, and the month ended with news that Will Ferrell would be throwing a fundraiser for the president in Los Angeles. The cost for admission? Roughly $36,000, the kind of chump change “the 99%” might find in their couch cushions during Spring cleaning—if by 99% you mean Bruce Springsteen.
Many commentators have asked if the president really believed his own State of the Union rhetoric when he said, “The state of our union is getting stronger.” The answer is yes, because that’s what happens when you spend too much time with people who live in the land of make-believe. The world’s dictators and despots are playing global chess while the leader of the free world is playing Hollywood Squares with Will Ferrell. If the Obama administration had a genre it wouldn’t be comedy. In fact, it’s a tragedy.
Douglas Ernst Blog 