Musings Over Morning Coffee

What does it mean to be arrogant?

ar·ro·gant  (r-gnt) adj.

1. Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance.

2. Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one's superiority toward others: an arrogant contempt for the weak.

How about presumptuous?

presumptuous  (pr-zmpch-s) adj.

Going beyond what is right or proper; excessively forward.

Do we think we can be a little more accurate when we throw the terms around? I ask after hearing the talking heads on cable TV blather about while everything about the Obama trip was successful, it 'borders' on being arrogant and presumptuous to be doing as well as he is doing abroad. Not that these were ever terms used by these folks for an event that really deserved the terms. Had they been free with the terms when George Bush landed on the aircraft carrier, or when John McCain said in 2003, referring to Iraq, "Overall, I Believe Our Goals Have Been Met", they might have a point. But they didn't say that about Bush and McCain then and they won't say it about them now. It's not the narrative they are trying to set. They want to reserve the terms for the new guy, Obama, who hasn't paid his dues with them (at least in their own minds).

These same folks are still rather annoyed that Obama doesn't seem to be a supplicant to the talking heads and pundits for their blessing and approval for him to look like a President. He seems to be doing it without them, and not all of them like it.

Some are willing to give Obama a passing grade. David Broder is willing to argue that Obama took no risks with this trip, but nonetheless, the lad did okay. You may recall this famous quote about Bill Clinton:

"He came in here and he trashed the place," says Washington Post columnist David Broder, "and it's not his place."

to get a sense of how important it is to the gatekeepers to establish exactly whose place Washington is, and who belongs and who does not.

Still, the media coverage for the most part has been very good and very positive, and with those visuals, how could it not be? And even those who bring up the arrogant and presumptuous descriptions allow that Obama looked Presidential, and held his own with the generals and the statesman. Everyone who brings it up is careful to say 'almost' or that 'there's no line that's been crossed'. It's just part of the narrative that's developing, in parallel with Obama holding his own with the generals, or his thinking and expressing that he might be dealing with these world leaders for some years to come.

The fun thing is watching someone who is composed, sure-footed and, yes, intelligent, represent America abroad. How great is it that we have a potential President that can put two sentences together without sounding like an inarticulate drunk?

Our friends from overseas are honest enough to say so. This is from the Times (UK):

And there is much more to him. He can sound high-minded yet rooted, idealistic yet grounded, exhilarated yet calm, warmly American and yet a bit of a European too. And, yes, presidential — it is there in his confidence and in his willingness to think and talk big with measured inspiration and an attractive humility. He didn’t go so far as to say "Ich bin ein Berliner", like John F. Kennedy all those years ago, but to judge by the excitement with which they greeted him, the Berliners clearly thought that he was that — and more.

Meanwhile, while Obama looks Presidential, McCain looks petulant. He's ignored his own trips to Canada (with speeches) and Central and South America to suggest that Obama shouldn't be giving speeches abroad. This, after bitterly complaining that Obama hadn't gone to Iraq and Afghanistan, and now complaining that he has.

McCain has had a terrible week, and Obama has had a great one. So, the only way to equal it out a little is to call Obama arrogant and presumptuous, especially for refusing to accept The Surge Is Working® frame. But times have changed, and we don't need them to tell us what to think. We can watch and see for ourselves. The funny thing is that, just between you and me, I think the terms fit some of the pundits this week better than they fit Barack Obama. But, of course, it would be presumptuous of me to say so.

^{Bush picture credit: AP/Applewhite
Obama picture credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz}