Thread: Obama to appear on THE VIEW

Interesting use of time to go on an afternoon women's talk show like this.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/201 ... _show.html

Two wars, oil crisis, crashed economy and he's whooping it up with Whoopi
S.E. Cupp
Wednesday, July 28th 2010, 4:00 AM
Thursday marks either a momentous occasion worthy of celebration or the end of civilization as we know it. For the first time in history, a sitting United States President will appear on a daytime talk show when Barack Obama joins the ladies of "The View" for what promises to be some rigorous policy talk - or a gabfest that will embarrass both daytime television (if that's possible) and the office of the President.

Before you accuse me of harboring some holier-than-thou, self-righteous indignation over the fact that our commander in chief will sit alongside three comediennes, a reality show star and Barbara Walters to hawk his political wares to stay-at-home moms, just consider the following.

We are still fighting two increasingly trying wars overseas, witnessing terrifying new levels of creativity from would-be terrorists (underwear bombs, etc.), mopping up a greasy mess in the Gulf of Mexico and trying to right an economy that seems insistent on remaining off the rails. And the so-called leader of the free world thinks the best use of his time is to yuk it up with Whoopi Goldberg.

This is either a moment to celebrate as some kind of pivot in the political zeitgeist, when the White House sheds its veneer of sanctimony to slum it with the common folk, or it's high time to weep over an experiment in democracy that went wildly awry. Perhaps we were so busy wondering if we could elect a charismatic President that we didn't bother to ask if we actually should.

Regardless, this is where we are: Obama is in trouble and doing what he usually does in this situation, reverting to showmanship instead of leadership: Beer summits with cranky Harvard professors and Cambridge cops, ESPN appearances to fill out his March Madness bracket, appearing on David Letterman's "Late Show" to joke about his agenda - little of which is composed of laughing matter, as far as I can tell.

Maybe we want the President of the new millennium to be more P.T. Barnum than Abraham Lincoln - an illusionist selling cheap tricks and sleights of hand under a colorful, shiny tent. Everyone likes a good show, after all, even if we know what we're seeing isn't real. But history has a funny way of pulling the curtain back to reveal that the all-powerful showman was really just a small man with a microphone.

Obama will surely discuss the state of the nation on "The View," in between coos and leg pats from Sherri, wisecracks from Joy and earnest pseudo-journalism from Elisabeth, but it's unlikely he'll change the minds of voters who are increasingly unimpressed that our President is a wiz at self-promotion, but no good at steering the nation through these tricky straits.

The reader polling for reaction has interesting stats, which might reflect the demographic of people who read that newspaper.

Poll Results
Thank you for voting.

What do you think about the President's decision to appear on 'The View'?

It's great: It'll give us insight into the President! 69%
It's a waste of time: Doesn't he have anything better to do? 31%

Right where he belongs.

That show has disintegrated into a Liberal cesspool.

Dixie

One of the most degrading shows of women on tv IMO. Cannot understand
any intelligent woman watching.