The 51st Annual Grammy Awards was an occasion to celebrate great musicians and … our president. Viewers were treated to more Obama love, as they learned he has received two Grammys for reading his own books on tape.
The president of the Grammys, Neil Portnow, made sure to let viewers know how much he loves the new commander-in-chief by spending his three minutes on stage chanting President Obama’s campaign phrase “Yes we can!” five times and pleading with Obama to create a new cabinet position dedicated to the arts and culture.
“Because of the creative community, it means that he is one of us – he’s an artist,” Portnow gushed. “… So having a Grammy-winner in the White House provides great hope for the future of music and the arts in our country, and for that we say, ‘Thank you Mr. President for the inspiration to loudly shout, ‘yes we can.’’”
Portnow asked President Obama to exercise some executive power on behalf of the recording academy. “And to our new president, we have a request: Our finest national treasure is our culture and the arts. It's also one of our most embraced and economically significant exports all around the world. So it's time that we acknowledge that fact with the creation of a cabinet position of secretary of the arts to promote and develop this vital contribution to society everywhere.”
Portnow also lobbied Congress on behalf of the academy: “And with a new congress, we will champion the passage of pending legislation to ensure, that just like in every developed country in the world, all music creators are compensated for their performances when played on traditional radio.”
Hopefully, the “national treasure” he spoke of wasn’t the lackluster performance of Katy Perry’s bi-curious song “I kissed a girl,” singer MIA’s performance in which she wore a see-through polka dot outfit while she danced on stage (and she's nine months pregnant), or the best rap album of the year. That Grammy win was for Lil’ Wayne’s obscenity-laced album full of explicit sexual lyrics and could hardly be considered a “vital contribution to society everywhere.”
