[Cross-posted to Broadsides.org]
But, first, let’s begin with a simple multiple choice question:
Guess which constituencies have NOT been invited to the Obama White House?
A. Wall Street Criminals.
B. Health Insurance Industry Crooks.
C. Single-Payer Advocates.
D. Anti-War Leaders.
E. Military Industrial Complex Thieves.
Oh wait, maybe I didn’t word that very fairly. Whatever.
Time’s up. The answer is “C” and “D.”
Didn’t fool you, huh?
And if you’re wondering where the change is, try this: Insert hand into pocket and shake. No, no, not there. Yeah, there – where the change is. Feel it, baby. And then weep.
But now, as of today, we have a whole new right-wing constituency that is being fawned over by Obama himself: NASCAR nation.
I’m guessing that Team Obama was going down its list of whom it hasn’t abandoned yet and determined that the eco-global-warming-anti-noise folks hadn’t been properly poked in the eye yet. Solution? Invite NASCAR to the White House. Done – poke provided.
But Obama didn’t just invite the gas-hounds to the people’s house, he also spewed his own verbal petroleum out in a way that should have made Bill McKibben wonder why he lectured his global warming groupies to stick with the good Democrat. I mean, consider this quote from Obama today as he stood with NASCAR drivers in the White House driveway:
One of the core values of the NASCAR community is the belief that service isn’t just something you do once in a while when it’s convenient. It’s a way of life. That’s the face of America that you show to the world.
Huh?
Sorry, but the only “core values” I can think that belong in the same sentence with the term NASCAR are things like: Racism, waste, drunkenness, obesity and ignorance. Well, I do think it’s pretty cool when they shave the number of their favorite driver into their back hair.
Oh wait, did I say, “racism, waste, drunkenness, obesity and ignorance?” Oops, I forgot, in modern political speak that translates to: Votes.
In fact, the more I think about it, maybe they’re all Democrats. They do, after all, seem to have a lot in common. NASCAR fans and Democrats, for example, love to sit on their asses and watch their “leaders” go around and around and, in the end, get nowhere. Worse, they all still cheer as if they won. Fuck yeah.
But Obama stretched it more than a bit too far today when had this to say about NASCAR races:
Families can go to the track and they can see these great racers and enjoy a good family event that lasts for a while, and it’s affordable. But part of it is also the fact that I think racing teams themselves are a family, and it’s a reminder that the guy behind the wheel is not the only person involved in this thing. That it takes a pit crew, and it takes the engineers back at the shop.
Oh no, Mr. President, your ignorance scar is showing. Pandering will do that, you know.
Because if you’d managed to check, NASCAR races are not family events and they’re certainly not “affordable.” Unless, of course, you consider $100 tickets affordable and viewing fat, toothless, drunken bastards with exposed ass-cracks as big as the ozone hole a good family event.
Oh Reverend Wright, where are you when we need you? I’m sure you could have set the Good Brother Barack straight on this one.
But then, as I studied the picture of the NASCAR drivers posing with Obama, I realized what the attraction was: the corporate logos. Of course.
But at least the NASCAR drivers are honest about the game they’re playing. When they get media face time they appear with corporate stickers all over them and gush about the great “Dupont, Shell, Exxon, Coke, Budweiser, etc.”
If Obama was that honest, he’d be similarly decked out in corporate logos when dismissing meaningful health care reform or bending over for the military industrial complex while escalating wars.
Once again, it’s the corporations, stupid.
Maybe NASCAR’s onto to something: Honesty.
Pass me a beer.