President O-O-Over-Saturation

Oh my, it’s been about three hours since I last saw/heard President Obama. Should I be worried? I mean, I hope he’s okay. It’s not like him to step away from the cameras/microphone for this long. Does someone know how to contact Michelle?

Oh wait. Nevermind. I just heard the news at the top of the hour announcing that Obama will be addressing the nation tonight in a primetime (duh) news conference. Whew.

Good. Fucking. Grief. Can someone please tell the president that there is, indeed, a thing called “over saturation”? And, better yet, tell him he reached it about three weeks ago.

Let’s face it, President Obama is starting to look like a complete egomaniac. Worse, he’s also a control freak, proven by the fact that he’s completely elbowed any and every one of his trusted employees out of the spotlight so that – apparently – it remains brightly pointing at him, him, and only him.

Can you say “burnout”? I knew you could. And I’m not just talking about a president who seemingly never turns down a chance to grab another minute of media time. I’m also talking about an American public that seems to be growing weary of their new 24/7 media whore of a leader.

Enough already.

Because, Mr. President, leadership isn’t only about how many times you get to phone home to tell your darling daughters that you will, again, be on all the networks. It’s also about lifting those around you. You know, people like your staff and – lest we forget – the poor fools who keep having their nightly session of “let’s avoid the bills and watch TV” interrupted by your smiling insistence that you’re smart and happy. Got it.

Perhaps if Obama had skipped just one of his many primetime media excursions in his first 50-days of presidential work he could have learned about the AIG bonuses that were so safely tucked into the bailout bills. Or maybe he would have been able to finish appointing the astounding number of employment vacancies that still exist in his administration – particularly in the financial regulatory realm. Or, if he had skipped that silly Leno appearance, he certainly would have prevented that elitist and insensitive slur toward Special Olympians.

I might be willing to cut the media-in-chief some slack if he was using all this great media glare to seriously address the issues that matter most to we, the poor slobs. You know, things like really stopping the war in Iraq (not this eighteen-month nonsense that still leaves up to 50,000 troops there), addressing health care (as in: single-payer, not the gibberish silliness about “streamlining medical records”), and providing economic relief to those who need it without continuing the charade of providing the wealthy billions in bonuses while giving the rest of us the “opportunity” to pave their roads and fix their bridges.

Please, Mr. President, the next time you get the urge – probably tomorrow – to address the nation, save it for something really good that addresses the lower and middle-classes, not the investor classes that you seem so hijacked by. Tell us, for example, that our friends, sons and daughters – all of them – are coming home from the illegal occupation of Iraq. Or tell us that we no longer have to stay up late trying to figure out how to pay for health care costs because we’re all about to be covered in the same way that we’re covered if we call “911.” If the police and fire departments can be “socialized,” why not health care? Or, better yet, tell us that the real criminals of today – no, not the pot dealers, but the Wall Street barons — are not only going to be forced to repay us for their crimes but they won’t be allowed to play with the bailout funds. Imagine that.

The campaign is over, Mr. President. You won. Now we’re waiting for “the change” you told us we could “believe in.”

Well? We’re still waiting.