Nero fiddled. Obama danced.
Legend has it that Nero fiddled while “a great fire ravaged Rome.” But history can fairly record that Obama danced while a great pandemic ravaged America.
Here is how TMZ, the tabloid of record in the celebrity world former President Barack Obama now inhabits, reported the first draft on August 8:
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The term ‘scaled back’ is all relative, because Barack Obama’s 60th birthday bash was still a bash, with what appeared to be several hundred party revelers on hand to celebrate.
There were tons of celebs who showed … including Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Bradley Cooper, Don Cheadle, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Erykah Badu, Steven Colbert, Bruce Springsteen and more.
The former Prez hit the dance floor under the massive tent … without a mask. As you know, the CDC, Dr. Fauci and many other experts have urged people to wear masks inside because of the Delta variant, and it’s already drawing criticism.
The party looked super fun … but the plan to keep things under wraps crashed and burned early on, as Erykah Badu and others posted photos and videos of the event.
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When news first broke about his tone-deaf plans for this party, Obama attempted to deflect criticism by insisting it would be “Covid-19 compliant” – complete with a covid coordinator, whatever that means. I commented at ABC News on August 2 as follows:
Really Obama! Covid-19-compliant comes across like a teenager trying to reassure herself by saying she’s just a little pregnant. Given the prevailing circumstances, 60 people would’ve been shockingly irresponsible. But 600? How Trumpian!
Indeed, the backlash was such that Obama reportedly assured no less a news organization than The New York Times that he was going to “scale back” the party. Presumably, he wanted to avoid even appearing irresponsible, especially in the midst of the Delta variant ravaging America with a fourth surge of Covid-19.
It would have been a shame if Obama had to be shamed into doing the right thing. But, as the TMZ report above documents, he lied.
I’m not sure what sleight of hand he thought he was going to get away with. But the right thing to do was to cancel. Period.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a reporter from the Times defended this gathering by saying that, unlike those infamous Sturgis bikers in South Dakota, these famous Obama partiers on Martha’s Vineyard are “sophisticated.” Except that the latter came across as just a bunch of imperious hypocrites.
Apropos of which, images of Obama blithely dancing his reputation away are now more viral than the Delta variant. He had to know they would convey heartlessness that would make Marie Antoinette blush. Frankly, they suggest he did not give a damn about pissing all over his presidential brother Joe Biden’s plaintive message to save people’s lives.
Of course, if this were Trump, this Times reporter (and everyone else defending Obama) would be decrying this party as a reckless superspreader event. “Scale back”? Now I suppose, after aping Trump by having his superspreader party, he’ll ape Clinton by saying it depends on what the definition of scale back is.
No doubt the Obamas’ production deal with Netflix makes them big shots in Hollywood. But you have to wonder if they are now more interested in emulating the Hollywood careers of Lucy and Desi Arnaz than the post-presidential years of Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter.
Indeed, it speaks volumes that TMZ did not list a single political advisor or ally among the Hollywood A-listers who made the scaled-back cut. Because only a Hollywood frame of mind would even countenance inviting a new celebrity “friend” like Erykah Badu while disinviting an old political friend (and loyal advisor) like David Axelrod.
In other words, Obama did not dance with the ones who brought him to this celebrated place in his life, because he did not invite them. He might be too hungover to realize it, but to the extent he’s still interested, he just made building his presidential legacy a lot more difficult.
As indicated above, though, protecting his legacy was not even the primary reason canceling this party was the right thing to do. Which is why I ask Obama: What will it profit you, to have a birthday party, but lose your reputation?
Anticipating the backlash, I feel constrained to disclose that I was an Obama supporter when most of the celebrities he was hobnobbing with in Martha’s Vineyard thought Bill was cooler and Hillary was more presidential – as “It’s TIME: Run Obama Run!” October 24, 2006, attests.
In any event, we are clearly seeing the triumph of Obama the social-media influencer over Obama the post-presidency statesman. And it’s pretty disappointing to see.
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