A Primetime President

I can’t get past the arrogance of this president. It’s one thing to joke about his hypnotic command of the mainstream media (he recently told the White House Correspondents Dinner, “Many of you have covered me, all of you voted for me … ”), but when you actually believe and expect that sort of kid-glove treatment from the Fourth Estate, you’ve overstepped your bounds.

Now President Obama feels so omnipotent that he’s been taking his all-star status to Hollywood. Never mind that he’s appeared on more covers of Ladies Home Journal, GQ and Rolling Stone this summer than Brad Pitt, but now he’s so arrogant he doesn’t see the need to appear on network giant Fox News. Sure, sometimes Neil Cavuto — the pre-eminent business/economics veejay for Fox — can get annoying, but he represents the most widely watched show in that time slot. Even a political moron could figure out you put your boss on that show if you want to look smart on financial issues. And Lord knows the White House needs to look smart on these issues.

Apparently, the arrogance of Obama has caused him to overlook the fact that his economic Cabinet is blowing chunks here of late. Geithner, Summers et al are posing in the background of press conferences as navel-gazers while their boss pretends to be concerned about credit default swaps. Don’t believe him? Most Americans are starting to doubt his economic decisions as well. The New York Times released a poll this morning showing more Americans questioning the president’s policies on auto bailouts, health reform and fixing the deficit. His personal popularity may be high, but nearly six in 10 disagree with the direction of his policies, assuming they’re even aware of them.

You can bet he’ll get tough questions the next time he appears on er … well, the “Tonight Show”?! I’ve heard of going on more friendly networks to get your messages across, but “Sesame Street”? C’mon! Talk about softballs!! I’m not kidding, folks. He’s actually been on these shows in the previous weeks.

Americans like the notion that their president can be an “everyman” and relate to their issues and concerns. But dropping quippy punch lines on “The Colbert Report” and poking fun at the network that criticizes his administration looks petty and beneath a commander in chief. I’d rather see our president quoting the latest unemployment numbers than the latest joke by Sacha Baron Cohen.

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