Windows, Cowbells, Snuggies and Obamacare

President Obama has been on television - again and again and again -- making public appearances and sitting down for interviews on every station (exceptFox News, natch!) pushing his proposals for health care reform. Never mind that his directives remain hazy and vague, and his speeches are no different than they were during the campaign, chock-full of boiler plate bromides that make liberals feel warm and fuzzy all over. 

Jonah Goldberg over at the National Review had this to say:

"...the White House still thinks it has a communication problem, and if only it dispels the cloud of 'lies' belched up by the opposition, there will be nothing but blue skies ahead. Funny how the people who run the most sophisticated communication operation in the history of the presidency keep concluding that their difficulties stem from their inability to get their message out and never from what their message actually is."

That quote prompted the most brilliant email response -- I wish I could properly credit the brilliance of the anonymous reader who made this spot-on comparison:

"...No amount of advertising, promotion, bikini-clad showroom girls, or gimmicky give-aways can sell a lousy product or one that consumers do not actually need...

...Obama's health care plan is the Windows Vista of public policy. It's far too complex for anyone to understand why it's better. It's larded up with bloated features that make it impossible to use. And for the vast majority of existing customers, the current system for all its faults, works well enough that the upgrade is worth neither the extra expense nor the risk that it will destroy the entire system. And no amount of advertising can sell it."

In fact, the omnipresent President -- and his belief that if he just speaks the same platitudes to the American people over and over -- has been likened by Goldberg to the SNL skit where the record producer believes that "more cowbell" pounded over and over with increasing intensity will somehow make a difference.

But just like I never bought a Chia Pet, a Thighmaster, a pair of Crocs, or a Snuggie -- I ain't buying Obama's snake oil, no matter how hard he pounds it.

(But I just might buy the t-shirt!)

 

Comments

[Dave]

At this point, there's no one health care bill. What's being batted about now are the different proposals created by 3 (I think) different committees. Maybe that's why things seem to be complicated at the moment. Obama's August deadline (which wasn't met) wasn't for a complete bill. It was for each committee to have their proposals ready to be discussed and consolidated.

Also, there's so much misinformation being spread(deliberately, in some cases), that Obama's making a concerted effort to set the record straight. Some people simply refuse to believe what he says, whether it's the truth or not. Dubya was often accused of not speaking to the American public enough. Now we've got a communicative president, and to some he's saturating the media.

Genuinely curious: What about the proposed health care reform do you believe renders it "snake oil"? I've yet to speak to someone who isn't for this health care reform AND can articulate why it shouldn't go through. Can you be the first?

[Ron]

How can The One set the record straight when he talks as if the whole thing is already set out in black and white? He and his ilk apparently only have a bunch of ideas in their heads and stuff apparently written in pencil so that they can change things any time they want and tell us that such-and-such is or isn't in the "bill."

[Pat]

The bill isn't yet set in stone. Things CAN be changed at this point. That's why there's such a "lively" debate going on right now. Everyone wants to make sure it's a reform bill he or she can get behind.

[ChunLing]

Well, I'm not strictly opposed, but I'm not really for it either. Simply put, it's totally outside the powers which the Constitution grants to Congress. Which is obviously not a concern that really matters to anyone these days, but there you have it.

The thing is, that's really my only objection. All the other things that most people dislike about this, like destroying the health care system and killing the unfit, I...don't exactly oppose. Given that the Constitution is basically already dead anyway, I can't really gin up all that much outrage over this.

[Karen West]

Snuggie and Obama? I just came across this Obama Snuggie parody.