Barack Obama may not have turned out to be post-racial after all, but he is staking a claim to be the first post-parodic presidential candidate. It’s very hard to distinguish this parody piece from the Onion on the sheer wonderfulness of Senator Obama from all the straight-faced ones in the mainstream media.
Hailed by media critics as the fluffiest, most toothless, and softest-hitting coverage of the presidential candidate to date, a story in this week’s Time magazine is being called the definitive Barack Obama puff piece.
“No news publication has dared to barely scratch the surface like this before,” columnist and campaign reporter Michael King wrote in The Washington Post Tuesday. “This profile sets a benchmark for mindless filler by which all other features about Sen. Obama will now be judged.
I’m truly beginning to hope that Obama wins. I can’t wait to see the reaction when he does for the nation what other dynamic, young black leaders have done for large American cities like Detroit. Combined with the inevitable African invasions – my guess is Zimbabwe, but Congo and Kenya aren’t out of the realm of possibility – I think an Obama presidency is probably the best hope for triggering a powerful conservative reaction capable of sweeping the neocons and Brooksian slow liberals to the side.