Too bad she seems completely clueless that his constant grubbing for donations have moved from the voluntary stage to the mandatory stage now that she has helped elect him. She even mentions that she wants to get back to "panicking about her 401(k)" which is also amusing since the party she supports is now saying that they want to take possession of her 401(k)! Does she even know this?
Lithwick's Slate posting seems to say a lot about a media that really never did get to truly see Barack past his glitzy exterior. It was all hope-n-change. Only the "change" ends up being that every last penny in her pocket AND her 401(k) is going to go to her email buddy, Barack.
Oh, Lithwick was suitably flip with a light-touch on her short Slate piece and we are probably supposed to come away with the feeling that she is only half kidding that she's was excited to be Obama's email buddy. Admittedly, there is a bit of pique in her piece that every single Obamessage she got over the last several years each came with a donate now message featured.
It is easy to see that Lithwick is cynical of all the constant fundraising, certainly. It must have been tiring for millions of Obmabots to see the ever present poor-mouthing the Obama campaign gave them. And she was particularly piercing with her penultimate paragraph.
But imagine my dismay yesterday when I opened my inbox to discover an e-mail entitled "Your Victory T-Shirt." Instead of a free victory T-shirt, I was being offered the chance to send yet another $100 to the DNC (in exchange for which I would, in all fairness, receive a free "victory T-shirt"). It's hard to explain why it's so galling to be asked to donate yet more money to a campaign after the election has been decided. It's sort of like being asked to keep planting the victory garden, years after Armistice Day. Even having achieved the presidency, Barack Obama is still counting on little old me for financial help? What's next? Dear Dahlia, Joe Biden and I have a bunch of great ideas for fixing government. And with your $100 donation, we can ensure that the S-Chip is fully funded and that the spotted owl remains on the endangered-species list. Please watch this video and consider a contribution.
As I mentioned above, Lithwick has warned The One that he should consider himself "cutoff."
But it's high time for us voters to get back to panicking about our 401(k)s. So please stop e-mailing to ask for money. You're president-elect now, Barack. Consider yourself cut-off.
Oh, Ms. Lithwick, you shouldn't worry yourself over much. Obama won't be so worried about those "donate now" buttons anymore. After all, he's coming for your 401(k), he's coming for your salary, he's coming for your pensions, he's coming for the profits of your company... he won't need your donations anymore, he'll find many ways to get your money.
You did elect him to do this ya know?
It's a little late now to whine that Obama's a bit money hungry.
(Photo credit: Newsweek.com)
