Learning to Love Big Brother

In my best movies of the year and my comments on the Presidential inauguration I addressed the cult-like atmosphere surrounding President Obama. I thought that Obama-worship could not reach new heights of absurdity than this…but I was wrong.

Saturday Night Live–which used to be an “equal opportunity mocker”– closed out its last show of the Trump years with a little tribute to Obama. SNL cast members Ceclily Strong and Sasheer Zamata, standing behind a photo of President Obama sang “To Sir with Love” and announced they got a special gift for Obama, a “World’s Best President” mug.

The choice of song is revealing. To Sir with Love is the theme of a 1967 movie of the same name about a teacher who turns around the lives of his class of juvenile delinquents. Here is a sample of the song’s lyrics:

The time has come
For closing books and long last looks must end
And as I leave
I know that I am leaving my best friend
A friend who taught me right from wrong
And weak from strong
That’s a lot to learn
What, what can I give you in return?

Unlike the singers in the video linked above, Strong and Zametra are not children, but adults. Yet their choice of a song shows they have a childlike view of Obama as an all-wise teacher whose job is not to head the Executive Branch but to set the people on the right course and help us resolve all our difficulties.

This worshipful attitude toward the President is dangerous to liberty. After all, if the President is an all-wise, benevolent teacher then why should he (or she) be bound by the chains of the Constitution?