There are a few things that make be bristle in agitation over casting Obama as being ‘just a celebrity.’ Chief among them:
a) Apparently, if you have a huge following, and are very charismatic, that’s a bad thing.
b) The complete hypocrisy of the whole claim. What’s that Biblical metaphor again? Oh yeah, ‘don’t hasten to point out the sliver in your brother’s eye, you may have a plank in yours.’
I think John McCain has Obama beat on the celebrity front: He’s had a TV movie made about his life and just like Obama he’s been on SNL.
What’s even more audacious is the party that’s slinging this BS: the Republican party is HUGE on celebrities:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, that Fred Thompson guy from Law & Order are three that come to mind immediately.
Defamer has an excellent post up about this very topic titled:
“Republicans Hate Celebrities So Much That They Keep Electing Them“
which is just hilarious and on-point.
Bottom line: the Republicans are very good at running disinformation campaigns and casting doubt about any of their rivals but I’m really more interested in trumpeting the good things a particular candidate brings to the table than about why his rival is worse. Relying on the whole ‘pick the lesser of two evils’ notion is lazy and perpetuates that ignorant mentality.
I’m not voting for Obama primarily because I’m in doubt as to whether McCain is a good candidate but because I think Obama is a good candidate. Get it?