Enough, frankly, of the up close and personal criticism of President Barack Obama. Policy differences, of course, are fair game, even if too often strident and hypocritical. But to criticize a guy with the toughest job in the world – making what’s equivalent to Major League Baseball’s minimum salary – for a “night out on the town” with his wife is wrong. To rebuke the First Couple for that Broadway getaway – because it came while General Motors faced impending bankruptcy – is to miss the point.
The point is not what a quick jetting to New York cost. The point is that the president is more than a public office-holder. And more than a boss under incredible pressure. He’s also a symbol. He’s not, mercifully, Jimmy Carter tethered to the White House while Iran held American hostages and stagflation gripped the economy.
A sense of normalcy during turbulent times has significant symbolic value. It always has. It sends the message that we not wallowing or fearing or scapegoating, but living our lives. The populace can feed off of that – even as the President and First Lady dine out.
This is hardly a Marie Antoinette moment. Moreover, the First Couple showed support for the arts by catching “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” They weren’t taking in “Terminator Salvation.”