President Pantywaist Gets Butch Makeover

When the New York Times runs a front page story bragging about what a masculine president Barack Obama is, complete with a photo of him in the midst of a jump shot, it immediately raises my suspicions. After all, this is President Pantywaist we're talking about. I've seen him bowl, attempt to throw out a first pitch at a baseball game, and ride a bicycle. None of these efforts could be described as great displays of testosterone. In fact, Hillary Clinton, pantsuit and all, has often appeared more masculine.

The New York Times, of course, disguises their bragging by pretending to raise the question of whether the president is ignoring some females in his administration by not including them in basketball games and golf outings. Seriously. That's the premise of the article. Would it even make the back page of your corporate newsletter? And yet the Times, the same newspaper that couldn't find any space to mention the Van Jones or Acorn scandals, has room to ask "Is the president too masculine?" on the front page of their Sunday edition.

Which disenfranchised females at the White House does the story quote, you ask? None. Okay. One. Communications Director Anita Dunn, but she defends the president from these accusations. Which is probably why I'm comfortable calling out this story as completely bogus. This is a planted piece of propaganda if I ever saw one. No wonder Emanuel and Axelrod are attacking Fox News. It's the only media outlet they can't manipulate into running PR pieces for their guy.

Don't believe me? Take a look at this dribble masquerading as news that tells us how butch we should think our president is:

"The president, after all, is an unabashed First Guy's Guy. Since being elected, he has demonstrated an encyclopedic knowledge of college hoops on ESPN, indulged a craving for weekend golf, expressed a preference for adopting a "big rambunctious dog" over a "girlie dog" and hoisted beer in a peacemaking effort.

He presides over a White House rife with fist-bumping young men who call each other "dude" and testosterone-brimming personalities like Rahm Emanuel, the often-profane chief of staff; Lawrence Summers, the brash economic adviser; and Robert Gibbs, the press secretary who habitually speaks in sports metaphors."

Beer. Check. Sports. Check. Rambunctious dog. Check. Why he's one of us! Barack Obama isn't the arugula eating, Whole Foods shopping, Ivy League elitist I thought he was. Don't you usually have to pay to run a commercial like this? Somebody pinch me and tell me which side of the iron curtain I'm living on.

Of course the proof that Emanuel and Axelrod are behind this memo comes in the second paragraph, when Rahm, the 5'6" tall former ballerina, is laughingly described as masculine. Talk about pushing their credibility. What's next? Ronnie Reagan, Jr. on the cover of Sports Illustrated? I certainly didn't realize that fist bumps and saying "dude" were a sign of manliness. I'll be sure to tell my twelve year old neighbor.

But in case you still have doubts, the Times gives away the ruse a couple of paragraphs later:

"In interviews, five women who work in the White House or advised officials there described the culture with more of a collective eye-roll than any real sense of grievance or discomfort."

In other words, it's much ado about nothing. We don't have a grievance, we don't even have a source for a quote. All we've got is women rolling their eyes about sports. Stop the press!

The poll numbers must look pretty bleak for the White House to start pretending Barack Obama is a cross between Roger Clemens and Larry Flynt. Democrats always face a gender gap, wooing more female voters than males. One can only guess that males are pulling away in droves having watched the president practice wiener diplomacy around the world, apologizing for America for everything, looking indecisive and uncommitted in Afghanistan, and basically giving concessions in return for nothing (see Iran, Russia). Even female voters generally prefer leaders who make them feel secure.

But it's not just conservatives and moderates who recognize Obama is a beta male. The far left is also getting impatient. They want President Obama to be more aggressive in pursuing his statist policies. They want him to ram through government-run health care no matter what, close Gitmo, pull completely out of Iraq and Afghanistan, penalize and redistribute the wealth of Wall Street, and yes, insult and demonize as many Republicans as possible like Rep. Alan Grayson. So classy, the Left.

So far the only thing Obama has provided for his nutroots base are endless campaign speeches and promises. In their opinion, Obama hasn't "manned up." In fact, that was the exact language used by Joe Queenen in an editorial today in the Wall Street Journal:

"Barack Obama, raised by a single mother, born with no discernible financial advantages, clocked Hillary Clinton, clocked John McCain, and got himself elected the first African-American president of the United States. He got himself elected in a country that was still lynching black people when he was a child. Barack Obama... doesn't need anyone telling him to man up. Especially visual op-ed columnists."

Seems like everyone is getting the butch memo from the White House these days, but Queenen is so slick he even works in the race card. As I've written before, the White House is going to make every issue and piece of legislation about Obama the Symbol, because his progressive policies aren't nearly as popular as he is. That's the thing about cults of personality. You have to keep feeding the legend of the personality.