During this presidential campaign both Obama and McCain made several appearances on the late night shows. These appearances allowed us a glimpse at a “relaxed” version of our future president. But on Tuesday night when Jimmy Kimmel’s interview with Obama from this past summer was rerun, I couldn’t help but wonder, does the title President still evoke the sense of honor and respect that is has in the past?
Surely SNL was one of the first barrier breakers. I can’t remember a time when they weren’t making fun of the current or past presidents from my lifetime. Jimmy Kimmel asked Obama, “Do you guys (basketball buddies) shower altogether? Or do you shower separately?” I thought he very appropriately answered, “Jimmy, were not gonna discuss that.”
Has our access to “celebrities” and “politicos” through the lense of the paparazzi and sites like Perez Hilton made us more at ease with the current President?
I don’t feel like I should refer to the President as Barack; Obama is about as casual as I will get, and that is because I am too lazy to have to type President Obama each time I mention him.
On the flipside I do think it is cool that Obama and his team are utilizing social networking to reach out to the masses and get everyone interested in politics. The White House now has a blog (launched on Tuesday) and I’ve heard that Obama is on Twitter, but I haven’t verified that because to be honest I don’t really understand Twitter.
What do you think about all of the access to celebrities and politicians? Is it good or bad? Does it hinder our abilities to show the President the respect he is owed?
Be looking for a commentary on this @ littleballofury.blogspot.com (yes this was shameless plugging). I am just researching.