That word, “disses,” is just too perfect. For eight years the press has treated Obama like the protagonist in some stage play, personalizing his policy struggles as a heroic effort of one noble man fighting an army of partisans, racists and plutocrats. Even the word “dis” — with its hip, slightly edgy connotation — taps into the Cult of Obama, which sees any setback for the president as a personal, often illegitimate affront to his dignity.
For the record, the vote against Obama’s veto was 97-1 in the Senate and 348-77 in the House. Were all of those Democrats trying to “dis” the president? Is dissing one of the congressional powers listed in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution? Or do we need an amendment stating that “Congress shall make no law dissing the first African-American president”?
The best explanation for this was written by the influential anonymous blogger Ace of Spades, in a 2013 post titled “The MacGuffinization of American Politics.” In film lingo, a MacGuffin is anything the hero desires. It doesn’t matter what it is. In “Pulp Fiction,” for example, we never learn what’s inside the briefcase. In any story, all the audience needs to care about is that the hero cares about getting something.
Throughout Obama’s presidency he has been the hero, and his agenda has been the MacGuffin.
“This is a movie,” Ace wrote. “And Barack Obama is the Hero. And the Republicans are the Villains. And policy questions — and Obama’s myriad failures as an executive — are simply incidental. They are MacGuffins only, of no importance whatsoever, except to the extent they provide opportunities for Drama as the Hero fights in favor of them.”
I should add that on the actual policy question, I agree with Obama about the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). I think it’s a bad idea, pushed by trial lawyers. But in “Politics: The Movie,” lame duck Obama is outranked by the hero-victims of 9/11 in pursuit of their MacGuffin.
Alas, Obama didn’t get script revisions.
“It’s a dangerous precedent, and it’s an example of why sometimes you have to do what’s hard,” Obama said this week. “And, frankly, I wish Congress here had done what’s hard.”
This Olympian disdain for the motives of his political opponents has played well for Obama in the past. Which is why his scolding about hard work is so ironic.
Obama has always seen working with Congress as beneath him.
As the Politico story makes clear, the White House was MIA on JASTA.
“There’s been zero involvement from the White House. Zero,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told Politico. “When you have a veto like this, it takes involvement, constructive involvement. I mean, there’s nothing.”
Asked why the White House stayed on the sidelines, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) responded: “I have no idea. I don’t know enough about the way the White House works.”
Why would even a Democratic senator know such a thing? That’s never been part of the movie.
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