No More Regular Guy-ism

It was revealed recently that President Obama's bad cholesterol has gone up 42 points since 2007. Apparently, his diet is not as healthy as it was before. He's also still smoking. His Republican adversaries did not leak these revelations. His Press Secretary didn't begrudgingly admit them. On the contrary, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs implied that this proves that the President is not an effete eater, someone Republicans might describe as a latte-drinking, salad-grazing liberal. "You guys think he eats carrots and celery," said Gibbs. "There's more cheese burgers, fries, and pie than you previously knew." The subtext of that, of course, is that Obama isn't just this Harvard-educated lawyer who's a great orator. He is also a regular guy who likes unhealthy food and smokes even though he knows he shouldn't. Why is it so important for politicians to be thought of as regular guys?

Obama really went over the regular guy line when he sat down for a lunch in Savannah, Georgia with a plate piled high with fried chicken, beans, sweet potatoes, greens, and macaroni and cheese. The worst part wasn't what he was eating (the regular guy food). It was when he turned to the people there and said, "Don't tell Michelle." That's good old-fashioned wink-wink, nod-nod, scratch your belly, manly punch to the shoulder Regular Guyism. At least he didn't say, "Don't tell the old lady." Who does he think he's kidding? Does anyone believe that he and the First Lady really have that kind of "I'm the king of this castle" marriage?

Of course, he's not the first President or Presidential hopeful to try to cloak him- or herself in Regular Guyism. Dukakis in the Jeep and Hillary Clinton throwing back shots on the campaign are just two examples. George W. Bush was a master at Regular Guyism. Here was a man who was born into a wealthy, powerful, political family of the Northeast. He went to college at Yale, and got his Masters Degree at Harvard. But I never heard him allude to any of these things. He passed himself off as an outsider to politics and a "regular guy."

Those running for office don't put on airs, they take them off. Intellectualism and even intelligence are often mocked and rarely thought of as good qualities for a President. Some pundits feel that Scott Brown, the new Senator from Massachusetts, was aided in his election by the fact that he drove an old pickup truck – a "regular guy" vehicle.

I don't buy into Regular Guyism. I don't want a President who is just a regular guy (or gal). I want a President who is special. I want a President who is consumed by the unbelievably difficult job he has and not one who is consumed by the rumors that McDonalds will soon be bringing back the McRib. I know it's heresy in America, but forget a pickup truck. It wouldn't bother me if a President didn't even know how to drive, and majored in French in college -– as long as he was dedicated to keeping our country safe, turning around the economy, and keeping Americans free and equal. I'm not turned off by a President who is educated. I want a President who is smarter than the average guy on the street. Let's face it, would you want a President with my intelligence and personality? I wouldn't.

To many people, having the very traits that they might admire in others are things they reject in political candidates. They see those who are highly educated, who seem overly serious, and who love things like the arts as "phonies." And they don't want a phony for a President.

Ironically, what actually happens is that the candidate or President who doesn't want to appear to be a phony becomes a phony as he pretends to be a Regular Guy. The Republicans would be better off exposing Obama as a phony Regular Guy than wasting their time on things like insinuating that he's not really a citizen or that his wife's arms are too muscular. Let Mitch McConnell or one of those guys stand up and say, "I've got news for you, America. Obama is a phony. He might pretend to be a regular guy, but he's not. He's actually a brilliant, articulate, capable man who cares about our country's problems far more than he cares about who will win the next Super Bowl." Then just watch Obama's popularity drop like it's never dropped before.

N o More Senior Moments?

Remember your Senior Year in high school? Was it a great year? Was it the highpoint of your athletic career? Did you win the science fair? Did you have a memorable time at the prom? Did you learn more as you prepared for college? Did you go to some great basketball and football games? How about all those graduation parties? Or was Senior Year a painful time filled with awkwardness, acne, and adolescent angst? Well, a Utah State Senator, Chris Buttars suggests that for many students, 12th grade is a waste of time that costs the state millions of dollars. At first, he suggested that the state cut out 12th grade altogether. Since then, he dialed it back to propose that Senior Year be optional. He just doesn't think 12th grade is necessary for many students, because so many "kids are just goofing off." Of course, many of us feel that state senators aren't necessary, because so many of them are just goofing off.

If kids are goofing around and wasting time in school, I don't know that this behavior should be rewarded by telling them they don't have to go to school anymore. Maybe making sure that 12th grade isn't a waste of time would be a better way to go. If the results of Drivers' Ed aren't so good, you don't stop teaching kids to drive safely. You teach them better.

Similarly, William Sederburg, Utah's Commissioner of Higher Education, said the bill was a move in the wrong direction. He pointed out that half of the students who graduate now are unprepared for college math and about a third do not have the writing skills for college.

Anybody who feels that kids need less rather than more education today hasn't talked to too many teenagers lately. If the Senator would just go to the nearest mall, he'd hear things like, "So, uh, like, I thought it was so random when he asked me if this is a new sweater since me and him were shopping when I bought it." Or, "So she went all Lindsay Lohan with me and I was totally, like, duh." Or "I gave him a ten dollar bill for the burger and Coke. Is this the right change? I think I took a mental health day from school when they did subtraction." Do you think the Senator would still say they don't need more education?

And of course, let's not forget all those once-in-a-lifetime Senior Year moments. Do we want to deny kids the Prom, the Big Game, or that magical moment when they find out that there's no such thing as a "permanent record?"

When kids go off to college or work, they are going to have to answer "yes" or "no" to questions about sex, drinking, and drugs. Do you really want them to be out in the real world dealing with things like that earlier rather than later? A year to grow and mature isn't a luxury. How can we expect 17-year olds to handle the real world when many adults can't?

J.D. Williams, the student body president of Utah's West Jordan High School doesn't think 12th grade is a waste of time. He says, "If you're the type of kid who will slack off, you'd find a way to do that in sophomore or junior year anyway." That's a good point, but if Buttars and those who agree with him hear that statement, they might want to cut out the sophomore and junior years, too.

One thing that happens when children aren't educated properly is that they become adults who haven't been educated properly. We hear adults using bad grammar every day. How often do we see someone making a speech on television, and hear her say, "We all have to think more positive about this issue" -- instead of "more positively?" Over and over again, sportscasters talk about how teams "have to play more aggressive" -- instead of "more aggressively." And these are people whose high schools had a 12th grade.

In case you haven't guessed, I'm not in favor of cutting out the Senior Year. I'm hoping that you'll be convinced by something William Sederburg, Utah's Higher Education Commissioner, said on CNN: "We would like the high school system to take the 12th year serious."

That's right. He said "serious," not "seriously." And he's Utah's head of Higher Education.

I don't make these up. I couldn't.