Saturday Thoughts.

I'm sorry - what happened in Copenhagen exactly? The narrative lost me. The nations of the world get together to negotiate an agreement. They fail miserably. So 5 nations negotiate an "agreement" which amounts to a list of hopes and good intentions except this alleged agreement is non-binding so it's not really an agreement at all.

Huh...okay...so how is this progress?

The good news is that our POTUS got to make another speech (Are these speeches like blood to a vampire? Without one scheduled regularly does Barry wither away?). He also got pics snapped for the MSNBC/White House web site (same thing) with various "concerned" and "on the job" poses. The POTUS then high tailed it out of Europe because of bad weather...an obvious, yet still sublime, final plot point.

Speaking of odd narratives...I saw Nine last night. It's an aching mess of a movie that I found absolutely compelling. Not because of the skilled performers (they abound) or the musical numbers (some are good, some are not.) or because it honors or recreates the vitality of Fellini. It does not. Fellini's 8 1/2 is about being blocked artistically. This version of Nine, which is based on 8 1/2, is about exhaustion. Every character is worn out; the mother, the wife, the confidante, the mistress, the leading lady, the "blocked" director - who isn't blocked at all, he's just bloody tired. Everyone is. The main character's genius has long since lapsed into narcissism - and even the narcissism has lost its aplomb -which gave this movie about an Italian movie director from the 1960s a timely American quality. This seems to be where much of the country is right now: Exhausted by decades of narcissism.

Sauerkraut's speech to the I.O.C. in Copenhagen

George Will's recent column on Obama's trip to Copenhagen focused on the President's seeming narcissism...which is not news around here. Will said:

Surely the (Silicon) Valley could continue its service to him by designing software for his speechwriters' computers that would delete those personal pronouns, replacing them with the word "sauerkraut" to underscore the antic nature of their excessive appearances.

Ani at NQ - in a piece far more serious than this one - references Will's statement. It got me to wondering....what would Obama's speech have sounded like if the constant "I" and "Me" were replaced with "Sauerkraut".

What's remarkable about the speech to me isn't Obama's self involvement. We already know Obama has a mancrush...on himself. It's how weak it is over all. It's dull and perfunctory. Obama's praise for his hometown reads like a travel guide one might peruse on the commode. I wonder if Obama has ever experienced Chicago in any real sense outside the bubble of his striving. There is no more than a glance at the history of America's "second city". No passion for it's dynamic place in the center of the nation. (Chicago is the crossroads of America and America is the crossroads of the world! - There ya go, Mr. Obama - next time call me before you fly.) There are no intimate references to Chicago's hidden joys. I don't know Chicago at all - but I know enough to know those things exist in all major cities. There is no answer to the obvious and only question that should have been addressed by his speech: Why would the world want to come to Chicago for the games? Obama could have been talking about any American city with a population that exceeds 500,000. It's almost as if he was saying: Chicago is like 100 other places on earth - except for one thing, I'm from there, so choose it! Particularly hamfisted is his insistence that the I.O.C. come to Chicago for the same reasons he did. (To run over mentors and ditch friends on the way to the top??!?) Ugh.

I'm the President of nothing -yet I could riff more expertly and without notes on the wonders, complexity, history and heart of my city - Los Angeles.

At any rate, at George Will's suggestion, here is

Sauerkraut's speech to the I.O.C. in Copenhagen:

Sauerkraut comes here today as a passionate supporter of the Olympic and Paralympic Games; as a strong believer in the movement they represent; and as a proud Chicagoan. But above all, Sauerkraut comes as a faithful representative of the American people, and we look forward to welcoming the world to the shores of Lake Michigan and the heartland of our
nation in 2016.

To host athletes and visitors from every corner of the globe is a high honor and a great responsibility. And America is ready and eager to assume that sacred trust. We're a nation that has always opened its arms to the citizens of the world-including my own father from the African continent-people who have sought something better; who have dreamed of something bigger.

Sauerkraut knows you face a difficult choice among several great cities and nations with impressive bids of their own. So Sauerkraut comes here today to urge you to choose Chicago for the same reason Sauerkraut chose Chicago nearly 25 years ago-the reason Sauerkraut fell in love with the city Sauerkraut still calls home. And it's not just because it's where Sauerkraut met the woman you just heard from-although after getting to know her this week, Sauerkraut knows you'll all agree that she's a pretty big selling point for the city.

You see, growing up, Sauerkraut's family moved around a lot. Sauerkraut was born in Hawaii. Sauerkraut lived in Indonesia for a time. Sauerkraut never really had roots in any one place or culture or ethnic group. And then Sauerkraut came to Chicago. And on those Chicago streets, Sauerkraut worked alongside men and women who were black and white; Latino and Asian; people of every class and nationality and religion. Sauerkraut came to discover that Chicago is that most American of American cities, but one where citizens from more than 130 nations inhabit a rich tapestry of distinctive neighborhoods.

Each one of those neighborhoods-from Greektown to the Ukrainian Village; from Devon to Pilsen to Washington Park-has its own unique character, its own unique history, its songs, its language. But each is also part of our city-one city - a city where Sauerkraut finally found a home.

Chicago is a place where we strive to celebrate what makes us different just as we celebrate what we have in common. It's a place where our unity is on colorful display at so many festivals and parades, and especially sporting events, where perfect strangers become fast friends just because they're wearing the same jersey. It's a city that works-from its first World's Fair more than a century ago to the World Cup we hosted in the nineties, we know how to put on big events. And scores of visitors and spectators will tell you that we do it well.

Chicago is a city where the practical and the inspirational exist in harmony; where visionaries who made no small plans rebuilt after a great fire and taught the world to reach new heights. It's a bustling metropolis with the warmth of a small town; where the world already comes together every day to live and work and reach for a dream - a dream that no matter who we are, where we come from; no matter what we look like or what hand life has dealt us; with hard work, and discipline, and dedication, we can make it if we try.

That's not just the American Dream. That is the Olympic spirit. It's the essence of the Olympic spirit. That's why we see so much of ourselves in these Games. That's why we want them in Chicago. That's why we want them in America.

We stand at a moment in history when the fate of each nation is inextricably linked to the fate of all nations-a time of common challenges that require common effort. And Sauerkraut ran for President because Sauerkraut believed deeply that at this defining moment, the United States of America has a responsibility to help in that effort, to forge new partnerships with the nations and the peoples of the world.

No one expects the Games to solve all our collective challenges. But what we do believe-what each and every one of you believe and what all of the Chicago delegation believes-is that in a world where we've all too often witnessed the darker aspects of our humanity, peaceful competition between nations represents what's best about our humanity. It brings us together, if only for a few weeks, face to face. It helps us understand one another just a little bit better. It reminds us that no matter how or where we differ, we all seek our own measure of happiness, and fulfillment, and pride in what we do. That's a very powerful starting point for progress.

Nearly one year ago, on a clear November night, people from every corner of the world gathered in the city of Chicago or in front of their televisions to watch the results of the U.S. Presidential election. Their interest wasn't about Sauerkraut as an individual. Rather, it was rooted in the belief that America's experiment in democracy still speaks to a set of universal aspirations and ideals. Their interest sprung from the hope that in this ever-shrinking world, our diversity could be a source of strength, a cause for celebration; and that with sustained work and determination, we could learn to live and prosper together during the fleeting moment we share on this Earth.

Now, that work is far from over, but it has begun in earnest. And while we do not know what the next few years will bring, there is nothing Sauerkraut would like more than to step just a few blocks from my family's home, with Mrs. Sauerkraut and our two girls, and welcome the world back into our neighborhood.

At the beginning of this new century, the nation that has been shaped by people from around the world wants a chance to inspire it once more; to ignite the spirit of possibility at the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic movement in a new generation; to offer a stage worthy of the extraordinary talent and dynamism offered by nations joined together-to host games that unite us in noble competition and shared celebration of our limitless potential as a people.

And so Sauerkraut urges you to choose Chicago. Sauerkraut urges you to choose America. And if you do, if we walk this path together, then Sauerkraut promises you this: The city of Chicago and the United States of America will make the world proud. Thank you so much."

An Anne Heche moment.

The Obamas weird trip to Copenhagen may be remembered as an Anne Heche moment. Heche's on again, off again lesbianism and trip down looney tunes lane was the big news in the U.S. on...

...September 10th, 2001.

Then reality intruded.

Such is the oddness of POTUS's decision to fly to Denmark to "share" about himself before of the I.O.C. After getting his Big Speech fix he came to starring down the barrel of the worst unemployment figures in 26 years and mockery on all fronts.

The tenuousness of the domestic and foreign situations has never been so apparent. Concern over who gets the Olympics in 7 years is so disconnected from the present it almost seems to beg reality to respond harshly with an "unforeseen event". The trouble is none of the "unforeseen events " Obama should have been dealing with Friday are not unforeseen at all. They're lined up down the block like sailors on shore leave at a brothel. With Iran, unemployment, and Afghanistan heading up the queue.

Without bold leadership from those in power now any number of "black swan" events could bring the house crashing down. Obama is not bold. It's strange to say that since for so long the P.R. on him insisted he was just that. Boldness and decisiveness go hand in hand. Obama is allergic to making tough decisions. This trait has too often been mistaken for "cool." It's not. It's fear and procrastination. He's shown passion for two things this year - the imaginary Chicago Olympics games and his friend who was arrested in Cambridge. Pelosi and Reid are both provincial politicians incapable of garnering national respect or leading on anything that matters. Yet, Obama, Pelosi and Reid are what now passes for "leadership".

As the official unemployment rate passes 10 percent, the dithering on Afghanistan continues, and Israel loses patience with American/Iranian negotiations - something, somewhere will give way. If it happens soon the Obama trip to Copenhagen will be seen in retrospect for what it was: Narcissistic fiddling while America burns.

Be gone. You have no power here.

Friday October 2, 2009 may be the date we remember as The Day Obama Jumped The Shark. It may be just hope on my part but I swear I sensed the atmosphere change around THE ONE somewhere between Copenhagen and Washington D.C. Apparently THE ONE got the news of Chicago's epic fail on Air Force One heading home. In that moment - he shrank.

For some Presidents there are definite moments that signal coming shifts in allegiance. Often they are unremarkable taken alone. George H.W. Bush's amazement at a grocery store scanner...remember that? In an instant everything one suspected about the man's elitism was rendered painfully obvious.

Dislike for George W. Bush was so rampant in the end that it's easy to forget that he was re-elected and claimed proudly that he had earned "political capital". Then, before the war went south, before his reasons for the war were laid bare as lies, before Katrina - there was one moment that- to me - kicked off his coming collapse. Bush boarded Air Force One at night to fly from Texas to D.C. to sign a hastily passed law interfering with the Terry Shiavo case. I remember seeing it on the morning news and thinking: That man has no idea who he governs. There was hardly an adult soul in the country (outside of the far right religious crack pot crew) that did not identify in some way with that horrible situation. The image of the onerous federal government interjecting itself was fundamentally disturbing to most Americans. It took Katrina to do Bush in finally and without mercy. But his poll numbers never went up again after the Shiavo "flight".

Still both Bush's had fall back stances. Bush 1 had a lifetime in government. For all his bellicosity and misguided misdirections, it was hard to question Bush 2's fiber as a man by the time the second term began.

Obama has neither experience or the projected ballast that comes from being the man in charge when the shit hit the fan. The Obama Show is Obama's plan B. And his plan A, and presumably his plan C, D, E, and Z. There is nothing else.

So what happens when the Obama Show tanks? What happens when he is humiliated in front of the world? The one intolerable outcome for personality (cult?) driven leaders is for the magic to be stripped away in public. We all knew Bill Clinton had a penis problem. So his public humiliation, while certainly degrading, did not end his career. His presidency wasn't based solely on his personality. In fact, the more the GOP clawed and screamed about his affair the higher his poll numbers rose.

Obviously the swift backhand both Obamas got in Denmark won't neuter his Presidency. Few people care about the Olympics. Fewer care about Chicago. Which makes his decision to go to Copenhagen all the more inexplicable. How could he have been silly enough to go without knowing Chicago would win? Not only did Chicago NOT win, it was run over, flattened, then run over again. Blaming advisers doesn't wash. Obama himself should have known better. A President Hillary Clinton or John McCain would not have been caught with 1,000 miles of that event. They both carry around something Obama has never been near: Wisdom.

(I called his trip "bizarre" earlier in the week. The man can't seem to live without the adoration of a crowd and a Big Speech, a fact that ought to alarm us. Someone needs to write Obama on the Couch.)

So who is Obama if the Big Speech has no affect and the adoring crowds throw daggers the moment the speech is over? He's not "just a politician" as some apologists are meme-ing around the internets. I'd feel better if he was. I wish he was "just another politician". We'd limp through till 2012. He's not even much of a politician - even of the low grade variety that can at least fill potholes and manage minor fights among arguing factions. Obama is atmospherics. Which is why adding to his atmospherics by doing things like yelling "You lie" has no affect. The I.O.C. did not add or detract from the Obama Show - they simply allowed it to happen and then rejected it harshly. They said "Be gone. You have no power here." By ignoring Obama's atmospherics the I.O.C. did what townhalls, Hillary Clinton, PUMAs, and Joe Wilson could not do: They changed the atmosphere around Obama. Now it's official - he's a loser. Losing the big fights has nobility. Losing the silly fights, that one should not even stoop to engage, is castrating.

He made a jackass of himself at what is essentially a chamber of commerce event on steroids. Go here to view a picture of the diminished Obama - both Barrack, Michelle and the whole BHO is show rendered with mocking, gleeful contempt.

He needs to win something big to regain his footing. Other than the sudden- and highly unlikely - creation of millions of jobs, a big, easy win isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Everyone loves him and no one fears him. That's his tagline at the moment. Soon from the Senate to Sandusky it will morph into: Be gone. You have no power here.