As many Americans know by now, President Obama characterized himself as "just eye candy" during his guest slot on "The View." Frankly, it was a triumph of artistic self-description.
The urban dictionary defines "eye candy" as "[s]omething purely aesthetically pleasing." And indeed, the President is an attractive man. But that's about it. Hence the aptness of the description.
Stereotypically, "eye candy" has often been a term used to designate a pretty but brainless younger woman on the arm of a rich or powerful older man -- something to be admired as superficially pleasing, but little more. That's precisely what we've got with the President. Unfortunately, he's also the leader of the free world.
That being said, if he's "just eye candy," that explains why he'd rather talk to David Letterman and "The View" ladies than meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and other world leaders. All the golfing starts to make sense, as does that "57 states"gaffe and thinking Hawaii is in Asia. So does his pronunciation of "corpse-man;" thinking "Austrian" is a language; referring to the Falkland Islands as "the Maldives" (a different place, fumbling an effort to snub the Britishby calling the islands by their Argentine name); believing that Arabic is spoken in Afghanistan; and asserting that it would be "unprecedented" for the Supreme Court to strike down a law passed by Congress.
It explains why he thinks "the private sector is doing fine" even as we learn -- just today -- that 55% of small business owners and manufacturers would not have started their businesses in today's climate, thanks to Obama. That's on top of the "stimulus" that was supposed to create jobs but just ran up the deficit; the health care plan that, Obama promised, would lower premiums by $2500 but instead will raise them by $3000.
And then, of course, there's the overseas debacle -- where President Obama apologizes for the free speech he is sworn to defend; rhetorically genuflects to radical Islamists with the assertion that "the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam"; and insists that a little-seen movie trailer is the reason for a deadly attack on four US citizens (including a U.S. ambassador) on 9/11/12.
If a pretty woman had gotten elected and had this sorry record, she'd never describe herself as "eye candy" -- even in jest. The joke would hit too close to the truth.
And the unfortunate truth is that Barack Obama is, indeed, just America's "Eye Candy" -- at the time when America needs a president much more than another celebrity.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member