Early yesterday afternoon I called a friend of mine who is a veteran photojournalist. I was certain he'd be in Unity, New Hampshire to cover the The Great Event, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would publicly unify their heretofore antagonistic political campaigns. But when my friend answered his cellphone, I learned that he was still at home. Why was this award-winning photojournalist not in Unity? Why would he, a life-long Massachusetts Democrat, actually hand over such an historic photo assignment to a colleague?

His answer:

"I am so sick of politics, I don't care if I ever see another politician again. It's just going to be more of the same old crap. No thanks."

Perhaps my friend's cynicism is more than the result of so much political abuse. Maybe he's somewhat prophetic. Take, for example, the following quote from yesterday's Unity event, given by Mr. Obama as he praised his former foe, Hillary Clinton. Recall that much of Mr. Obama's campaign -- until yesterday -- consisted of him insisting that America did not need Hillary Clinton's vision for America. America needed his.

"I have admired her [Mrs. Clinton] as a leader. I have learned from her as a candidate… [Woman in crowd shouts, “Hillary rocks!”] She rocks. She rocks. That’s the point I am trying to make. (Mr. Obama laughs.) I am proud to call her a friend and I know how much we need both Bill and Hillary Clinton as a party and as a country in the months and years to come. They have done so much great work … But we need them. We need them badly, not just my campaign but the American people need their service and their vision and their wisdom in the months and years to come because that’s how we are going to bring about unity in the Democratic Party and that’s how we are going to bring about unity in America and that’s how we are going to deliver the American Dream in every corner of every state of this great nation that we love [wild cheering and applause]." [emphasis added]

Surely this sort of adulation of Mrs. Clinton is precisely the sort of thing my friend could not bear, knowing how just weeks ago Mr. Obama was adamant that the Clintons represented "more of the same." One can't forget Mr. Obama's insulting and humiliating quip during a televised Democratic presidential debate, "You're likable enough, Hillary." The slights, jibes, digs and insinuations have now turned to compliments and kindness; and the man who is presumably the Democratic Party's presidential nominee is now insisting that America needs the Clintons, and that we "need them badly."

Perhaps my friend would have been put off by this absurdity:

"I know that there have been times when those [outdated, allegedly sexist] biases have emerged and Senator Clinton has always brushed them off [gestures brushing things off his shoulders], dealt with them with her usual grace and aplomb. But I also know that while this campaign has shown us how far we have to go, it’s also proven the progress we have made. I know because of our campaign, because of the campaign that Hillary Clinton waged, my daughters and all of your daughters will forever know that there is no barrier to who they are or what they can be in the United States of America. They can take for granted that women can do anything that the boys can do, and do it better [Hillary nods approvingly to the audience] and do it in heels!" [emphasis added]

How nice, and how utterly inflated and foolish. Women and men cannot do the same sort of things, at least in many areas. It is a nice sentiment, of course; and there is no place in Unity for Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton to be as realistic as I can be here. But what is curious is that there is surely going to be silence in the wake of Mr. Obama's diminution of women's strength: "Women can do anything that the BOYS can do, and do it better." Indeed, I am sure most women can outperform the boys, Mr. Obama, but how will they fare against the men?

Maybe my photojournalist pal would have collapsed in a heap of disbelief as he listened to this bit of Obama hyperbole:

"That’s why in this moment, we have to come together not just as Democrats but also as Americans, united by our understanding that there is no problem we can’t solve, no challenge we cannot meet, as one nation, as one people."

No problem? Really. Today a family in Vermont grieves over their missing 12-year-old daughter. She is presumed abducted; she is one of thousands of girls who've disappeared in this country. How, pray tell, can Mr. Obama and his united country solve the problem of a missing, perhaps murdered, girl? No problem we can't solve, sir? Perhaps we'll -- together and united -- find out who murdered Nicole Brown Simpson.

And then there is this vacuity regarding Mr. Obama's commitment to ending the "war" in Iraq:

"…or we can decide that it is time to be in a responsible, gradual withdrawal from Iraq. … it is time to bring this war in Iraq to a close and that’s what we will be working with and working on when I am president of the United States, that’s the choice in this election. " [emphasis added]

Perhaps my friend would have disintegrated in the heat of the Unity rhetoric, noting that Mr. Obama's odd locution "that's what we will be working with and working on" lacks all conviction; Mr. Obama will be working on but not actually ending the "war" in Iraq, should he be president. And, like any candidate, Mr. Obama has promised that withdrawal from Iraq will be "gradual." Maybe the wild cheering at such inane and vacuous promises would have sent my friend rushing to the first aid kiosk for help with his sudden nosebleeds.

We can all concede that there is nothing new under the sun, particularly in politics, and those of us savvy to political rhetoric know that there is nothing ideologically or politically new to Barack Obama. Yesterday's Unity speech proves that if he represents "change," the change is ever so slight. And superficial.

©Bill Gnade 2008