Posted 10:07 pm Monday, February 11, 2013
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Is president our boss or our dad?
Many people are scratching their heads at comedian Chris Rock’s remarks about President Barack Obama’s gun control push. Was he serious? Does he really believe those things? Is he stupid?
Yes, yes, and decidedly not. Rock is a talented comedian (though he was once scolded by Bill Cosby for his offensive language) — and remember the oft-quoted truth, “dying is easy; comedy is hard.” Rock’s words don’t reveal ignorance, but instead, a different and troubling view of the role of the government.
Here’s what Rock had to say at a Capitol Hill rally on Wednesday: “The President of the United States is, you know, our boss. But also, you know, the president and the first lady are kind of like the mom and the dad of the country. And when your dad says something, you listen. [And] when you don’t, it usually bites you in the [expletive] later on. So I’m here to support the president.”
Let’s take those statements one-by-one. Is the president our boss? Of course not; in a democracy of any type, including our own republic, an elected official works for the voters. The “boss” analogy is not only inappropriate, it’s dangerous. A boss issues orders, and can punish workers who don’t follow those orders. If the analogy was in any way applicable, Obama could call House Speaker John Boehner into his office and fire him on the spot.
Now, if any kind of corporate structure analogy applies, it’s that the president is merely an administrator, serving at the pleasure of a board (in this case, a board composed of every voting American). But even that’s imperfect. Administrators don’t generally defy the majority of the board, as Obama has done with the imposition of the still-unpopular Affordable Care Act.
How about the “mom and dad of the country” part? Again, the analogy doesn’t work — except, perhaps, in the unintended consequences of the War on Poverty launched in the 1960s. The federal government became the father — the main provider, at least — to many families.
The results have been disastrous. Obama himself, who grew up with a single mother, has acknowledged this.
“We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception,” he said. “We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one.”
Let’s take those statements one-by-one. Is the president our boss? Of course not; in a democracy of any type, including our own republic, an elected official works for the voters. The “boss” analogy is not only inappropriate, it’s dangerous. A boss issues orders, and can punish workers who don’t follow those orders. If the analogy was in any way applicable, Obama could call House Speaker John Boehner into his office and fire him on the spot.
Now, if any kind of corporate structure analogy applies, it’s that the president is merely an administrator, serving at the pleasure of a board (in this case, a board composed of every voting American). But even that’s imperfect. Administrators don’t generally defy the majority of the board, as Obama has done with the imposition of the still-unpopular Affordable Care Act.
How about the “mom and dad of the country” part? Again, the analogy doesn’t work — except, perhaps, in the unintended consequences of the War on Poverty launched in the 1960s. The federal government became the father — the main provider, at least — to many families.
The results have been disastrous. Obama himself, who grew up with a single mother, has acknowledged this.
“We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception,” he said. “We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one.”
Still, government serves as a substitute father in too many instances.
The rest of Rock’s sentence — that there can be consequences for not listening to your father, is a sort of muddled interpretation of a biblical commandment: Honor your father and mother. There’s also a promise: “that your days might be long.”
How does this apply to the federal government? It doesn’t. At all. We are to obey laws, of course, but the law is not the same as the president. There may be a little confusion over that, with the broad powers presidents wield with executive orders. But the truth is Obama answers to us, not the other way around.
Any other understanding of the relationship would be a joke.
The rest of Rock’s sentence — that there can be consequences for not listening to your father, is a sort of muddled interpretation of a biblical commandment: Honor your father and mother. There’s also a promise: “that your days might be long.”
How does this apply to the federal government? It doesn’t. At all. We are to obey laws, of course, but the law is not the same as the president. There may be a little confusion over that, with the broad powers presidents wield with executive orders. But the truth is Obama answers to us, not the other way around.
Any other understanding of the relationship would be a joke.
