A WASTING RESOURCE:

Obama saturation (Jennifer Harper, March 22, 2009, Washington Times)

There are those who wonder if Mr. Obama is already overexposed, not 100 days in office. He is the first sitting president to Twitter, get cozy on the "Tonight Show" and be seen or heard on average every 10 seconds somewhere on the global airwaves. Could Obama fatigue be setting in?

I don't have it. Yet. A civility freak, I have a certain wistful naivete that makes me wish the esteemed Office of the President of the United States was not subject to the constant rude probe of news and celebrity hunters. I pine for a line between viable watchdog journalism and snarky commentary or personal invasion. Yeah, well. Dream on.

"For a president who ran more as a megastar than any kind of working politician, the dangers of overexposure are greater than average. Charisma alone rarely withstands the kind of scrutiny movie stars get these days," says Lisa Schiffren of National Review.

"And it is only diminished when paired up with the ordinary, run-of-the-mill celebs who come on late-night TV to hawk movies or other projects. To be sure, speech is Obama's talent. But, sooner or later, people will understand the limits of words. For now, enough."

Unfortunately, the Unicorn Rider's seeming determination to turn himself into an irrelevancy with record speed for a president could end up mattering if a situation arises where a national leader would be useful.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 22, 2009 9:44 AM