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Obama's So Cool...

Brainster

Penultimate Amazing
Brainster
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And the prize for biggest suckup of the year goes to Paul Waldman, for this unintentionally hilarious column on Barack's coolness:

When Barack Obama appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon the other night, he walked on stage and gave Fallon a quick pound hug, that handshake/one-arm hug that we cool guys do these days to express a sentiment something like, "It is good to see you again, my friend; we know and like each other, but are not so intimate, nor have been apart so long, that a full two-arm hug is warranted." When I watched it, the first thought that came into my head was, "Mitt Romney has never done that with another man in his life."
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:boggled:

Of course all the conservative blogs piled on Waldman for that ridiculous comment, so he attempted a rowback:

You see, there's a difference between "cool" as an idea and a demeanor, and "cool" as a sixth-grader might use the term, meaning just "awesome!" Matt apparently thought I was using it in the latter sense, which probably accounts for him referring to my post as "Obama-fluffing," but this is something I've written about before. For instance, it's what makes Obama hard to parody, and is the reason there are no good comedic impressions of him the way there were of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. It's not because Obama is awesome, it's because coolness dictates that you remain calm and a little removed at all times, which means that you don't have the kind of outsized traits and habits that can be exaggerated into comedy.
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1. That argument might work, if the two posts in question hadn't been titled "Cool Kids Versus Squares".
2. If he thinks Obama is hard to parody, he hasn't been watching Saturday Night Live.
3. I don't want a cool president, and for what it's worth, I don't think he is. He's kind of dorky, which is fine with me.

Jon Cole of Balloon Juice, unintentionally proves the latter point with a post intended to show just how cool Barack is. He's got a picture there of Obama and the gal who played Uhuru on the original Star Trek, doing the Spock "Live long and prosper" finger thing, heh.

How big of a nerd do you have to be to think that's cool?
 
Jesus Christ

Really? How about the plight of ice melting?

Seriously, who the hell cares?
 
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Obama is cool?

This is why he is a screw-up and horrible president. Coolness is not a quality we should have in the leader of our military.
 
Bill Thompson said:
Obama is cool?

This is why he is a screw-up and horrible president. Coolness is not a quality we should have in the leader of our military.
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Oh I don't know. Seems it wasn't that long ago that a big point in favor for a previous office-holder was his supposed 'beer at the bar' availablity.

Then there was the musician, I seem to recall some the saxaphone as a symbol of 'in-touch with today's youth'-edness.


jalok
 
Bill Thompson said:
Coolness is not a quality we should have in the leader of our military.
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Depends on how you're using cool. I definitely want a C-in-C who remains calm in all situations.

And in the "blowback" quote in the OP, that is apparently at least in part what the guy was talking about.

ETA: Though that meaning of "cool" has nothing to do with the Jimmy Fallon appearance. I'd say that has more to do with somehow being in touch with young people and what's "hip" or "in". (I'm showing my lack of contemporary "cool" with those word choices, I'm sure--in this meaning of cool.) As for this meaning, it has no relevance at all for qualifications as C-in-C. It doesn't matter much either way. I certainly don't think it's something to be avoided in a C-in-C.
 
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Jalok said:
Oh I don't know. Seems it wasn't that long ago that a big point in favor for a previous office-holder was his supposed 'beer at the bar' availablity.

Then there was the musician, I seem to recall some the saxaphone as a symbol of 'in-touch with today's youth'-edness.
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And you raise the point that in assessing this type of "cool", we're not comparing him to a movie star, professional athlete, or rock star but to other politicians of similar level. (Think of the social position of the kids who were into student government in high school.)
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
ETA: Though that meaning of "cool" has nothing to do with the Jimmy Fallon appearance. I'd say that has more to do with somehow being in touch with young people and what's "hip" or "in".
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Is it the raids on medical marijuana dispensaries that shows how cool he is? Or maybe it's his opposition to gay marriage? Those positions are really "in" with the younger crowd, all right. :cool:
 
Brainster said:
GOP strikes back:

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That video was in the linked article. So, it's like this article strikes back at GOP striking back at Obama being on Jimmy Fallon's show.

Can't have president going on late night talks shows to promote keeping student loan rates low. Many20 & 30-somethings might hear the message in an entertaining wrapper.
 
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