The Key Word is Parody

“Obama Descends into Self-Parody,” Gene Healy writes at Reason, adding that “It’s time for the president to give his hope-and-change act a rest:”

After much soul searching, Barack Obama has figured out where his presidency has gone wrong—and he shared it with CBS’s Charlie Rose and viewers across the fruited plain Sunday morning.

“The mistake of my first term—couple of years,” the president allowed, “was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right.” At times, Obama confessed, he’d forgotten that “the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times.” He needed to do “more explaining, but also inspiring.”

“Because hope is still there,” the first lady added.

There you have it. Contemplating the policy wreckage that surrounds him, the president has concluded that what this country needs is a fresh injection of presidential hope. Like “more cowbell” in the old Saturday Night Live skit, it’s the magic ingredient that makes everything better.

Obama considers himself a sophisticated and nuanced guy, so you wouldn’t think his descent into self-parody would be quite so unsubtle.

Anyone else out there for the explanation that a lack of storytelling, explaining, and inspirational speeches was the great sin of the Obama presidency? According to CBS’s Mark Knoller, in his first two years in office, the president clocked 902 speeches and statements and gave 265 interviews. Anybody who talks that much runs the risk of saying too much. Case in point, this gem from the president’s speech Friday in Roanoke: “If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” Inspiring!

But why rely on the president’s own efforts at self-parody when we can parody him ourselves? Besides, as a true devotee of Saul Alinsky, he’d expect nothing less. Which is why the PJ Tatler is asking for “Demotivator” photoshops of The Great Demotivator himself. Click the link to see the current entrants.