Friday, May 09, 2008

An Unfortunate Truth

"[Obama's] first instinct -- the academic instinct -- is to explain and analyze, which is impressive to political writers who share that particular vocation. But this approach always places the explainer in a position of superiority...The issue of the lapel flag pin is a good illustration. Obama's explanation for its absence -- that it had become a 'substitute' for 'true patriotism' in the aftermath of Sept. 11 -- is perfectly rational. For a professor at the University of Chicago. ...A president is expected to be a patriotic symbol himself, not the arbiter of patriotic symbols. He is supposed to be the face-painted superfan at every home game; to wear red, white and blue boxers on special marital occasions; to get misty-eyed during the most obscure patriotic hymns." [Gerson, WP op-ed]

(nod to KL)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

... a LECTURER (adjunct) at the University of Chicago...

Steven Taylor said...

Anonymous:

For what it's worth, he was a Senior Lecturer during the majority of his time (about 8 years) at the school, which is a non-tenure track job, but more than an adjunct.

See the Univ of Chicago's own press release on the subject:

Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status.