-By Warner Todd Huston
Dahlia Lithwick, a Slate senior editor, is newly miffed at the constant Obama fundraising emails she’s received. Oh, she didn’t mind them as the campaign was going on, she says, but now that Big “O” is fairly elected, Lithwick is tired of them. One gets the feeling, of course, that this has been building in her for some time — a sneaking dread mounting with each demand for cash. She even ends her Slate piece telling Obama that as far as she is concerned he should consider himself “cutoff” from her wallet.
Too bad she seems completely clueless that his constant grubbing for donations have moved from the voluntary stage to the mandatory stage now that she has helped elect him. She even mentions that she wants to get back to “panicking about her 401(k)” which is also amusing since the party she supports is now saying that they want to take possession of her 401(k)! Does she even know this?
Lithwick’s Slate posting seems to say a lot about a media that really never did get to truly see Barack past his glitzy exterior. It was all hope-n-change. Only the “change” ends up being that every last penny in her pocket AND her 401(k) is going to go to her email buddy, Barack.
Oh, Lithwick was suitably flip with a light-touch on her short Slate piece and we are probably supposed to come away with the feeling that she is only half kidding that she’s was excited to be Obama’s email buddy. Admittedly, there is a bit of pique in her piece that every single Obamessage she got over the last several years each came with a donate now message featured.
It is easy to see that Lithwick is cynical of all the constant fundraising, certainly. It must have been tiring for millions of Obmabots to see the ever-present poormouthing the Obama campaign gave them. And she was particularly piercing with her penultimate paragraph.
But imagine my dismay yesterday when I opened my inbox to discover an e-mail entitled “Your Victory T-Shirt.” Instead of a free victory T-shirt, I was being offered the chance to send yet another $100 to the DNC (in exchange for which I would, in all fairness, receive a free “victory T-shirt”). It’s hard to explain why it’s so galling to be asked to donate yet more money to a campaign after the election has been decided. It’s sort of like being asked to keep planting the victory garden, years after Armistice Day. Even having achieved the presidency, Barack Obama is still counting on little old me for financial help? What’s next? Dear Dahlia, Joe Biden and I have a bunch of great ideas for fixing government. And with your $100 donation, we can ensure that the S-Chip is fully funded and that the spotted owl remains on the endangered-species list. Please watch this video and consider a contribution.
As I mentioned above, Lithwick has warned The One that he should consider himself “cutoff.”
But it’s high time for us voters to get back to panicking about our 401(k)s. So please stop e-mailing to ask for money. You’re president-elect now, Barack. Consider yourself cut-off.
Oh, Ms. Lithwick, you shouldn’t worry yourself over much. Obama won’t be so worried about those “donate now” buttons anymore. After all, he’s coming for your 401(k), he’s coming for your salary, he’s coming for your pensions, he’s coming for the profits of your company… he won’t need your donations anymore, he’ll find many ways to get your money.
You did elect him to do this ya know?
It’s a little late now to whine that Obama’s a bit money hungry.
(Photo credit: Newsweek.com)
____________
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.