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HOFFMAN: President Obama, America’s Jedi

By on March 15, 2010 1:20 am in Columns / 11 comments

 
HOFFMAN: President Obama, America’s Jedi
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President Barack Obama and Luke Skywalker have more in common than one might think.

Though Skywalker lives in “a galaxy far, far away,” Obama too lives in a far-away world.

The world of Washington politics, sometimes so mind-bendingly confusing, often seems like a galaxy far, far away.

Our 44th president and lightsaber-wielding Jedi are ideologues who tend to bite off more than they can chew.

Look at Skywalker circa Empire Strikes Back era.

The tasks Luke undertakes in the film are many: defending Hoth from an Imperial assault, escaping a wampa lair, dueling Darth Vader and rescuing his friends from the Imperial-held Cloud City, all of which results in Han Solo being frozen in carbonite and given to Jabba the Hutt while Luke loses his right hand to a blow from Vader’s lightsaber.

It may appear that these events have nothing to do with Obama, but bear with me.

In his first 365-plus days in office, Obama has taken on a multitude of challenges: fixing the economy, bailing out the auto industry, health care reform, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and reforming energy policies.

It’s hard to tell, but it looks like he may suffer the same results Skywalker did in Episode V – losing Democratic control of Congress (Han Solo frozen in carbonite) to the Republicans (Jabba the Hutt) and possibly losing his influence within the Democratic party (his right hand).

First, Obama took on the economy and auto industry, the former staying stagnant at best while the other is surviving, if only on the federal government’s dime.

He also has pushed for climate control reform and has altered the strategies for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it is not these policies or strategies that could undo him. It is health care reform.

The task of reforming health care is to Obama what Darth Vader was to Skywalker: his most complicated, toughest and ill-conceived battle.

Good ol’ Luke was on the right track before his bout with Vader.

It appeared as if his friends might escape Cloud City safely; all he had left to do was tackle one more obstacle. But it was too much for him, and proved to be his undoing.

I do not want to see Obama suffer the same fate as an immature Jedi Knight.

He came into the presidency with enormous potential but, like Skywalker, he took on too much. Now he is paralyzed.

He has mentioned reconciliation, but this is not the right way to go about it.

Instead of trying to accomplish all his campaign promises within his first year, Obama should have put his eggs in one basket at a time.

Come November, I do not expect Obama to have won his battle with Darth Vader, nor will he be able to keep the faith of the American people.

I believe he will find this lack of faith disturbing.

 

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  • timbankful

    Childish. Barry is a man with out substance. He governs in much the same way you write-foolishly.

  • Oh Boy

    Thats nice, Republicans are evil. Same old devisive games. I get the jist. Doesn’t he represent the party that promotes abortion Michael? A lot of people would consider that evil and inhumane but hey, your the college student right.. you know more than the american people.

  • James O’Bryan

    I like the analogy, but I don’t get the point of the article. Everyone knows that the president is in way over his head, as would anyone in his position, and that the health care reform is the most important thing on his plate. I just don’t understand why there is an article saying what hasn’t happened with no new ideas to help…

  • jyron

    what did I just read? I’d be a little more puzzled over why they let a mind-numbing article like this on the paper but due to recent James Fall related events its quite obvious the quality control dept. at CM Life has been long absent

  • Sarah

    I think everyone is looking a little too deep into this. I thought it was funny. I doubt Mike meant to offend anyone as much as he meant to make people think for a second and then chuckle a little. I think you people read CM-Life looking for an excuse to get offended.

  • Alice

    To me, it is simply an article that cleverly illustrates how Obama appears to be in a losing struggle, possible offering an explanation that people who are not into politics (but love Star Wars!) can understand. To the person that brought up abortion, you seem to be grasping for a platform to express your opinions on the subject and will apparently take anything you can get, because the article did not speak to that at all. A college student has the right to express any opinion, as was done here, as well as the rest of the american people. I’m still unclear at which point in the column it was stated that someone knew more than anyone else.

    I normally don’t comment but felt compelled to after the classless attacks and accusations to what I felt was simply a colorfully written piece on a much more serious topic. I don’t see why everything must be so serious all the time, and it would get people who usually don’t pay attention to politics more interested, which will also get them more educated on the topics. I think the lack of quality control falls not on the paper, but on the simple minded people that commented (expect James, you actually made a point and didn’t reference points that were not even mentioned, you seem like a smart guy, the others I am not so sure).

    Go ahead, bring your attacks to me now, I wouldn’t expect anything less.

  • Oh Boy

    He referred to the Republicans as Jabba the Hut, a corrupt creature that has no regard for others except to accept bribes and hurt others. Maybe Jabba should be represented as Ben Nelson from Nebraska. James made a point because you agree with him. You called out anyone that disagreed Alice, maybe you should open your mind a little bit… isn’t that what they teach you here? I understand the article was supposed to be funny, but the problem is it is something anyone could have come up with 10 minutes before the article was due to be published. Don’t you expect better from a University newspaper? I guess it doesn’t matter what I say Alice… I’m wrong, your right is what it comes down to.

  • Alice

    Oh boy, could your name not be any more fitting, as my eyes roll with every word of yours I read. Would you have rather him referred to Republicans as Darth Vader instead? To make the point there has to be a villain, simple as that. You are reading into it a bit too much.

    What they teach me here? I see you are assuming I am a student, although I guess at this point I shouldn’t be shocked at the conclusions you form for yourself without any information. I read exactly what I would expect from a university newspaper, a variety of articles varying from informative and opinion driven to more conversational pieces.

    It’s not a me vs you thing, I did not said I am right and you are wrong. I know many people in the world think differently than I do and that is what the world needs, different views and perspectives. It’s not people with different opinions I have a problem with, but people who needless attack others on topics that were not even brought up (like abortion). If you want to comment, at least stick to what was written about and not your own personal agenda. I didn’t say I agreed with James, but at least he remained on topic and wasn’t just shouting at the wall as you seem to enjoy doing.

  • Garrett

    I am amazed at how offended people are by this type of thing. I agree that maybe throwing the Jabba comment around may have been a little harsh, but it’s simply to fit this in with the scenario that’s being described.

    As for him being in charge of the party that “promotes abortion,” holy crap. Really, we still can’t accept that nobody is pro-abortion. Being for a woman’s right to choose and “promoting abortion” are slightly different concepts. Not saying either is the way to go but as offense as being called Jabba may be to you, to toss around rhetoric like this is just sad.

    I do agree that we should expect challenging writing from our newspapers, but I don’t agree that this could be thought up in ten minutes. If this is such an obvious article then wouldn’t someone else have written it already? Again I’m not saying this all is right or wrong, I just think it’s funny and I shall await Obama’s Return of the Democracy. More likely we’ll be seeing The Liberal Menace (in which I’m curious who will be Jar-Jar and who will be Darth Maul).

  • chris

    Michael,

    Well done. That you have generated comment is a testament to some worthwhile writing, whether it stands up to fact or not. As for jabba the hut………there are so many republicans who fit the description (and many who even look like jabba) it’s fun to speculate. fun stuff.

  • dino bravo

    Buck Farack, lol sounds more middle eastern than Barack Hussein Obama