Swooners In Heat

by digby

Bob Somerby has a barn burner up today about man-crushes that is not to be missed. He particularly excoriates Kurt Anderson for an appearance on Charlie Rose this week in which he admitted to “swooning” over Obama. Somerby reminds us of previous Anderson swoons:

ANDERSEN (9/13/99): I too like Bill Bradley, and expect to vote for him in the primary. A friend of mine who’s a theater director recently told me that I should tell another friend of mine who’s a speechwriter for Bradley that he, the director, would like to help coach the candidate in big-audience performing skills. Which I think would be a good idea. And which I also think is a very rich premise for a comedy sketch. But my problem with politics these days…is that politics don’t and really can’t matter all that much in this country right now. There are rough, large consensuses on all the big issues—economics, social welfare, civil rights, women’s rights, war and peace, even abortion. And they will continue as long as the economy chugs along like this and we stay out of wars any longer than a mini-series. Sure, there’s a biggish, scary lunatic right—the Gary Bauerite creationist anti-gay regiments—but they’re not going to be running the country or amending the Constitution any time soon. In fact, Pat Buchanan is right about the virtual indistinguishability of the Democrats and Republicans. I sympathize with both Buchanan and Warren Beatty viscerally, if not ideologically. I really think national politics kind of needs to be blown up and rebuilt. For the couple of weeks seven years ago before he revealed himself to be a horrible, crazy gnome, Ross Perot seemed to me like a great idea. And if next November the candidates are George Bush, Al Gore, and Jesse Ventura, it isn’t inconceivable that I would pull the lever for Ventura. And I certainly wouldn’t be very upset if Bush won, even if he can’t name a single book he’s ever read.

This is a ridiculous person and so un-self aware that he’s actually proud of it.

I’m hoping that the current Obama swoon will help Democrats win in November. But let’s not forget that people like Anderson are just a little bit untrustworthy as advocates, so I wouldn’t take anything they say too seriously. He is a preening, puerile airhead, who may be useful in the short term, but presents a very clear danger to our system and our politics in the long run. These silly fellows tend to be just a bit fickle, if you know what I mean. Just read that excerpt again if you don’t believe me.

I’m a pragmatic sort and I am more than willing to take advantages where they come. But the fact that journalists like Anderson are all swooning over Obama is a very mixed bag. Right now it will be helpful in that the press corps also swoons over McCain so perhaps we’ll get a little balance. But boys like him tend to get very nasty when their idols turn out to be mortal.

This swooning between Obama and the press could very well end up being a classic Dangerous Relationship. One of the most important signs of a potential abuser is if they put you up on a pedestal:

Being on a pedestal may feel great at the time, but all idols are bound to fall. The higher the pedestal, the harder the fall.

Take notice if a person has assigned you a position or qualities that are completely unrealistic given where you are in the relationship. For a new lover to say, “you are the light of my life” or “you are everything to me” in the first few weeks of dating is scary. They are impossible to live up to. Your lover knows too little about you. Inevitably, he is projecting onto you all kinds of qualities you may or may not have.

It is flattering to have all these fops of the village press corps drooling all over a big Democrat. But they have issues. Big ones. They have the attention spans of a six week old ferret and the fidelity of a cat in heat. It’s extremely foolish to trust these abusers with our future. Caveat Emptor.

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