Faux poutrage is SO unbecoming…
[George W. Bush jams out in the White House during Black History Month celebration, White House photo by Chris Greenberg]
Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley is outraged that President Obama has the audacity to invite musicians to the White House. Though he was silent when previous presidents did this, it was enough to prompt a stupiditorial column in the paper this week:
[A]s I scrounged through drawers and coat pockets in search of anything that might reduce the size of the check I’m going to write tomorrow, I was acutely aware of how my tax dollars are being used.Defending my freedom and maintaining the avenues of commerce, no problem.
Feeding the hungry and nursing the sick? All good.
But I draw the line at paying for Justin Timberlake and Queen Latifah to serenade a president who, according to the Obama’s tax return released Friday, paid a smaller percentage of his income in federal taxes than I will, while earning a lot more.
Ooo! Nolan Finley has “drawn a line”!
First, the irony of a conservative like Finley being upset at President Obama paying a lower tax rate than him is chest-deep. Finley’s Republican pals have done absolutely everything in their power to prevent wealthy Americans from paying higher taxes. And Finley has been there to cheer them on the whole time. The fact is that President Obama uses himself as an example of someone who should see his taxes rise and who didn’t ask for tax cuts in the first place. I wonder if Finley giggles when he files op-eds like this? I wonder if he thinks the rest of us are too ignorant to see the utter hypocrisy of it?
Second, where was Finley when President Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush invited musicians to the White House? Was he equally outraged then when the man chiefly responsible for the gigantic hole in our national budget due to huge tax cuts for the wealthy (like President Obama) enjoyed music in the comfort of his home?
Here are some of the folks that performed for President Bush at the White House:
- Regina Belle
- Take 6
- Herbie Hancock
- Anita Baker
- Wayne Shorter
- Nnenna Freelon
- Clark Terry
- Lisa Henry
- Bobby Watson
- B.B. King
- Disney’s The Lion King
- Itzhak Perlman
- Jersey Boys
- Kenny Chesney
- Lee Ann Womack
- Marvin Hamlisch
- Naomi and Wynonna Judd
- Natalie Cole
- Rascal Flatts
- Steven Curtis Chapman
- The Oak Ridge Boys
- The Temptations
- Vince Gill
- Amy Grant
- Yo Yo Ma
- Eartha Kitt
- Patti Austin
- Irwin Mayfield
- Aaron Neville
- Nell Carter
- Toby Keith
That must have really outraged Nolan Finley. So much so that it rendered him silent, apparently.
