On the Joy of Not Cringing at Our President

A funny thing happened as I was watching President Obama's press conference with Prime Minister Harper in Ottawa: I did not cringe with embarrassment.

It may seem like an odd admission at first. After all, everybody knows by now that Obama is comfortable on the public stage--at ease with teleprompter and off-the-cuff alike--and expert at framing key concepts to shape and lead a pragmatic debate.  

And yet, after 8 years of pulling my hair out in large clumps each time George W. Bush stood at a press conference with another world leader, I feel a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders by the mere fact that Obama was not embarrassing.  Policy positions aside:  what a relief to not feel utterly humiliated as a citizen after watching our Commander in Chief take the foreign stage.

I know others felt the same way. 

For example, I noticed at the Ottawa press conference that nobody in the room stood up, shouted something threatening, and then threw their shoes at our president.  Based on my anthropological expertise of cross-cultural behavior, I can verify with relative certainty that not throwing shoes at a world leader is a universal sign of not being overcome with frustration and annoyance. I also noticed that Obama did not butcher any words in the English language, resulting in many people not laughing at him and not telling jokes depicting him as a fool.

Not cringing at the president when he is abroad may seem like an insignificant thing relative to the details of the Recovery Act or troop levels in Afghanistan or benchmarks on lowering carbon emissions.  Still, imagine the impact of these non-cringe-worthy presidential press conferences abroad.  Each time President  Obama stands on the global stage, waves of non-embarrassment and non-frustration will wash over millions and millions of people like a warm and relaxing mist.  "My goodness," the world will whisper to itself. "This new American president does not make us uncontrollably anxious."

Now, here at home there are some in the broadcast media who are trying very hard to repackage each of President Obama's appearances as threatening or disconcerting.  These pundits are trying to convince the public to be nervous and concerned when Obama speaks at home or abroad. It is not working.

The fact is, a new reality is emerging each time our President speaks, and with that reality a new feeling.  Like Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, when President Obama speaks to the public, either at home or abroad, members of the public feel distinctly different than they felt over the past 8 years.  They feel--positive.

This positive feeling is a combination of two things all rolled into one.  We are relieved that the recent era of American presidential ignorance and jingoism is over and we are amazed that the voice of an American president can once again light up a room, no matter what the lingua franca of the room may be.

Combined with Secretary of State Clinton's diplomatic emphasis on 'smart' foreign policy, President Obama's ability to not make people cringe when he speaks is a powerful tool, and will be the key to advancing a vast array of important policy changes.  It is hard to imagine how it could not be.

No matter how unsavory political debate may seem here at home, particularly as the next stage of Obama's recovery bill gets chewed up like an old slipper by Congressional Republicans and the right-wing media--remember the feeling that flowed from Obama's press conference in Ottawa, today. 

A little non-cringing at our President abroad may just go a long way towards changing the world.

(cross-posted from Frameshop)

Comments

[LaMees]

Happy, happy, joy, joy! (Happy dance enthusiastically being done!)

[wheelnut53]

good to see I'm not the only one who cringed whenever bush opened his mouth, I thought I was nit picking.

[marignymitch]

Very nice post. Today I enjoy not having to switch channel or turn off TV when the president appears.

(PS He's not my commander in chief. He works for me. However he is commander in chief of the armed forces.)

[camper65]

Best not forget how to cringe. You're going to start doing it more and more often - and sooner than you think.

[jeanno]

I'm never going to be able to scrub from my brain the images of George Bush at the G8 a couple of years ago.
Twirling around on a swivel chair like an 8-year-old, while chomping on big hunks of food with his mouth wide open - yelling 'Hey Blair, get me a diet coke!' This was the infamous summit where the President of the United States spontaneously started rubbing the back of Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel who was horrified, and did not react well. All in all - it was mortifying and made a lifetime impression on me.

[ThermoChemist]

Well stated Mr. Feldman.

While I could excuse Dubya for his occasional gaffes (all politicians have those moments),
I could not excuse...

...the continual lack of cohesion (ie. babbling?) from our Chief Executive [not to mention the seemingly endless smirking]. People / reporters were often left pondering what exactly was said after a Dubya speech. We often had to hear from his people after-the-fact as they tried to explain his incoherence with statements that usually began "What the President meant was..."

“I understand small business growth. I was one.” -- Dubya; [2/2000]
"Will the highways of the Internet become more few?" -- Dubya; [01/2000]
"Put food on your family" -- Dubya; [01/2000]

...his mangling of the English language...
"Is our children learning?" [01/2000]
"How many hands have I shaked?" [10/1999]
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." [02/2001]
Uses the word "resignate" for "resonate"

...his array of "made up" words...
subliminab­le...insti­cated...in­grinable..­.misundere­stimate...­"Hezbollia­n attacks"

...yet the 28%ers STILL feel this upsurd compulsion to come to his defense....!

On a sidenote, it was stated in the article "...watching OUR Commander in Chief.." I believe you are making the same mistake that Dubya continually did whenever he used that term. He is NOT "our" Commander-In-Chief (ie. the Commander-In-Chief of America?). He is the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces.

[3dtrix]

True - but they are our armed forces - ergo "our commander in chief".

[ThermoChemist]

I know it may seem like a case of semantics; but I disagree.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 2
"The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States..."

The president is NOT your "Commander in Chief" if you do NOT serve in the armed forces. On the contrary, he works FOR you (we pay his salary, don't we?), and he works for [with] your representatives in the Congress. [would you call someone who works "for you" your Commander...?]

[fumes]

''upsurd'' is absurd

in so many ways

[ThermoChemist]

Nice catch..!!

[MartinHB]

I now have less pain in my remote finger because I don't have to change the channel everytime I hear the President's voice anymore.
Far beyond that, when the President is outside the country and we see pictures of crowds holding American flags -- they aren't on fire!!!! That alone could stop global warming.

[MichaelMcKLA]

Quality observation, Jeffrey! I had done a lot of cringing over the past eight years. I even wrote an email to the Obama White House. In it, I mentioned that it was great to be able to write to the president without having to include the sentence, "Please re sign from office, you incredible mo ron."

[LaMees]

Giggles!!!!!

[mindylc77]

What a relief! A President I can actually be PROUD of! It IS a new feeling, I'd say!
Great article. Thank You!!

[maxfax]

I'm not ashamed of my President, I don't know what to say.

[MsMsBurning]

I totally agree! I ENJOY watching the commander-in-chief because he speaks a language I understand­..ENGLISH! Never could figure out what the hell Dubya was speaking.

[Freesia2]

Ain't it grand?

I got so used to going into a frown and a worry pucker every time our former President was on tv, or headed outside the country, that I think I can personally thank him for a frown wrinkle.

But now I'm add laugh lines and smilies. Like this. :-)

[DeloresT]

Are you certain that Obama didn't look into the Canadian leader's eyes and read his SOUL? I guess he doesn't have Bush's sensibilities!

[greatlakesgirl]

Jeffrey, I forgot to tell you........GREAT ARTICLE!!!!

[greatlakesgirl]

Such great blogs people. Harper is a Conservative, also in a minority party in Canada. He has little chance after the stunt last fall of calling a special election for his buddy Bush. Canada is smart with it's politicians, Dalton McGuinty the Ontario Premiere is not as polished perhaps as Obama, but certainly admires Obama for his ethics, intellect, intelligence and honesty. Canadians want Obama model there also, in power. As with everything Conservative, corruption is forefront in their agenda and this election was called purely for a majority government for OIL profits west and east. That is what knowone talks about unfortunately, as like Iraq......­..........­...OIL. The pipeline is being stalled in Canada because Harper will never get a majority even though there are four or five party's. The party's talked about uniting against Harper last fall, thankfully kept their own caucus intack.

Funny how all politics is local. I'm a liberal that truly believes in helping those who cannot help themselves, especially in times when the Republicans seem to strip every country it touch's with their greedy little paws.