In the news

[Snowcone]

I wanted to say he's nothing special, but I just couldn't.

 

[ledboots]

(US topic) opinion piece. A lot of you are Obama supporters; do you agree with this author?

" Tuesday morning, a peculiar announcement trickled out of the White House press office: President Barack Obama would be holding a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston bombings. At the White House. By himself. No press or other intruders allowed.

Except the White House photographer.

That Obama assumed Americans would want an iconic photo of him privately mourning the victims of the bombings was emblematic of a kind of hubris that has enveloped the president and his White House as the president commences his second term.

Hubris in a leader is an obnoxious thing, leading to imperiousness in governing. And it’s also a dangerous thing for a second-term president, often spelling trouble.

Unfortunately, this president’s acts of high handedness and self-absorption have been accumulating in the past several months at a blistering pace."...

continues http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obamas-hubris-problem-90650.html

 

[beancounter]

Hubris, back patting and back scratching are part of politics.

Just yesterday, he was singing the paises of GW Bush.

It's not not limited to Obama. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of other presidents (and congressmen) doing the same or similar things. Can you really name a politican who wouldn't take an opportunity for a photo-op? Planned or spontaneous?

 

[Spang]

From that article:

He is picking and choosing which laws to enforce - like deciding not to deport certain groups of immigrants who would have been protected by the failed Dream Act and opting not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

Whether or not the Obama Administration defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (Republicans are using your precious tax dollars to defend it in the mean time), the law is still being enforced. Also, President Obama has deported more brown people than his predecessor.

Not mentioned in the article is Obama's disastrous drone policy, which is slaughtering untold innocent civilians, including children.

 

[Blobbenstein]

@ ledboots
isn't it what all the grief porn addicts want?

 

[ledboots]

@ ledboots
isn't it what all the grief porn addicts want?

I don't know what this means.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I don't know what this means.

Mourning sickness is a collective emotional condition of "recreational grieving" by individuals in the wake of disasters and celebrity deaths.[1] Such disasters and celebrity deaths may be linked to hyper-attentive, intrusive and voyeuristic media coverage, which has been dubbed grief porn.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_sickness

I just think politicians get sucked into giving people this sort of thing....They probably don't care much to start with but are expected to care and respond as if they care, so they don't see that stepping up this sort of response as any different from how they first responded.

 

[Amy SF]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_sickness

 

[Amy SF]

Oh, Blobby got it first.

We're still in a collective state of mourning. Obama's behavior is to be expected. Every news site on the web still has (more or less) blanket coverage of the bombings and the aftermath.

What's unfortunate is that the explosion in West, Texas which occurred just two days after the bombings has not had quite as much coverage as the bombings, and while the bombings of course are inexcusable, we really need to have a discussion on why the fertilizer plant in Texas blew up. But most people are still focused on the bombings in Boston.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I feel like I understand grief porn a bit, as I indulge my self. I even enjoyed Thatcher's funeral procession, a bit......I'm not sure what is going on with that.....like wiki said

Times journalist Patrick West said in his booklet Conspicuous Compassion that "mourning sickness is a religion for the lonely crowd that no longer subscribes to orthodox churches. Its flowers and teddies are its rites, its collective minute's silences its liturgy and mass."[

it can be a bit like that....although I have religious faith, I don't go to any church, and feel a bit left out of society at times.

But at the same time, I acknowledge that I don't really care that much.....wouldn't fancy my chances down the pub with that attitude, but then again I don't ever go down the pub.

 

[Alice-Bee]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_sickness

I just think politicians get sucked into giving people this sort of thing....They probably don't care much to start with but are expected to care and respond as if they care, so they don't see that stepping up this sort of response as any different from how they first responded.

Is this like when some celeb who hasnt actually been on TV/made a CD/movie/etc in years dies and people basically flood onto social media sites to post "Dead celeb name RIP...you legend" in some sort of odd attempt to seem asthough they were a huge fan and the persons death has impacted on their life somehow.

 

[Blobbenstein]

Is this like when some celeb who hasnt actually been on TV/made a CD/movie/etc in years dies and people basically flood onto social media sites to post "Dead celeb name RIP...you legend" in some sort of odd attempt to seem asthough they were a huge fan and the persons death has impacted on their life somehow.

yes that's part of it.

I think it is a chance for people who feel disenfranchised to feel connected to society, maybe.

 

[Alice-Bee]

Or perhaps when something happens (say a child is killed) and people seem to get very overly attached to the story.
"I only live 30miles from there, Im so scared to go out now!"
"I cant eat or sleep thinking about this poor child...Ive had to take time off work"
NB-Actually seen these posted on a news website following a murder case.

 

[Blobbenstein]

yes, that's the sort of thing.....it's a big world, and a local news item makes us feel less...isolated......more relevant in the world's narrative.

 

[Alice-Bee]

Or when people show interest in flavour of the week storys...such as Earthquakes..."reblog if you care"

Those pee me off the most.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I am dreading either of my parents dying though. When/if either of them dies I will feel more lost in the world....if they both died, that would feel like the end of my life probably....the last people who really cared...I am sort of hoping I die first.

 

[Amy SF]

I am dreading either of my parents dying though. When/if either of them dies I will feel more lost in the world....if they both died, that would feel like the end of my life probably....the last people who really cared...I am sort of hoping I die first.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Is this like when some celeb who hasnt actually been on TV/made a CD/movie/etc in years dies and people basically flood onto social media sites to post "Dead celeb name RIP...you legend" in some sort of odd attempt to seem asthough they were a huge fan and the persons death has impacted on their life somehow.

Just because a celebrity hasn't been working in awhile doesn't mean the work they previously did doesn't exist, or that there aren't fans of their work.
I'm a huge fan of a singer, and if she never put out another record, it wouldn't negate the impact she had on my life, or mean that I won't be upset when she dies.

 

[Alice-Bee]

Just because a celebrity hasn't been working in awhile doesn't mean the work they previously did doesn't exist, or that there aren't fans of their work.
I'm a huge fan of a singer, and if she never put out another record, it wouldn't negate the impact she had on my life, or mean that I won't be upset when she dies.

I meant more like Ive never heard these people mention they were a fan, or show any interest in the persons career(including liking any TV shows/movies they were ever in...so why are they posting RIP LEGEND messages 2 minutes after the announcement of their death?

 

[Amy SF]

I meant more like Ive never heard these people mention they were a fan, or show any interest in the persons career(including liking any TV shows/movies they were ever in...so why are they posting RIP LEGEND messages 2 minutes after the announcement of their death?

Maybe they're genuinely sad to see that person die. And you have no way of knowing if they really are/were a fan or not.