Enough of the Lies, Barack Obama
No, I do not believe the former president loves Charli XCX. This has to stop.
You hear it all the time: trust in our leaders is at rock bottom. Nobody believes what politicians say, or expects them to tell the truth. It’s a crisis!
Well, here’s a thought: maybe nobody believes politicians because they are constantly lying to us. Case in point: Barack Obama’s recent appearance on the “I’ve Had It” podcast, which Caitlin thankfully alerted me to.
What is this podcast? I am not entirely sure, though this particular episode started with the hosts saying the words, “Listen up patriots, gaytriots, and theytriots,” which is kind of all you need to know. Anyway, Obama participated in a game they play on the podcast called “Had It or Hit It,” where you say whether you’ve had it about something or would still hit it. As with so many celebrity interviews, this one was deeply boring and obviously scripted, with all the points agreed on beforehand (sample question: “had it or hit it: unregistered voters.” Excuse me while I go catatonic from the monotony). After some tedious chat about tan suits and basketball—did you know that Obama is friends with famous people like LeBron James? Shocking—things took a sinister turn.
“Had it or hit it: brat summer?” one of the hosts asked. Lol hilarious etc. For the uninitiated (aka Rafi) this was a reference to Brat, the season-defining album from Charli XCX that briefly rode an organic wave of cultural joy before being devoured by the Kamala Harris campaign.
And here is where we get into the deception.
This is how Obama responded, via Rolling Stone:
“Hit it. I just put out my playlist, and ‘365’ is on it. And it is a great album,” Obama replied.
“People question sometimes whether I’m actually listening to all this music,” he continued. “As I’ve testified before, I am. I get input from my daughters, who undeniably are a little more up-to-speed on a day-to-day basis. I’ve got a bunch of young staff who will occasionally make recommendations. Charli XCX, she knows what she’s doing.”
Please keep yourselves busy so I can go scream into a pillow.
Anyone who knows me knows that I have spent years and years and years bemoaning Barack Obama’s annual music playlists, for the simple fact that I think they are filled with lies. I complain about this to everyone who will listen.
Every year, Obama comes out with a brand new set of recommendations that are supposedly from his own heart and mind, even though they read like they were focus-grouped to death. Here’s part of his 2024 playlist.
Oh look! Barack Obama happens to love the number-one song in America. He also happens to love a carefully selected, uncontroversial mix of oldies, vintage hip-hop, jazz, dad rock, neo-soul, and Billie Eilish. How interesting that his personal tastes have something to satisfy every possible quadrant of the American electorate.
And among Obama’s “favorites” for 2024 is “365,” the final track off of Brat.
Let’s listen to “365.”
Sample lyrics: When I'm in the club, yeah, I'm (bumpin' that)/When I'm at the house, yeah, I'm (bumpin' that)/365, party girl (bumpin' that)/Should we do a little key?/Should we have a little line?
Tell me: do you think—like, honestly think—that former president Barack Obama, the man who made a whole podcast with Bruce Springsteen, heard “365” and went “oh fuck yes”? And then put it on his playlist? I call bullshit.
“But wait,” you might say, “he admits that he gets input and recommendations from his kids!” Sure, fine, but then you have to believe that Malia Obama sat down with her father and played him “365,” and Obama said “omg that song about being a party girl doing a little key? Put it on my list!!!”
No. No. No. No. If you want more evidence, just watch the video of Obama discussing “365.”
Do you think that Obama talks about the song (which he refers to as “three-sixty-five,” even though Charli says “three-six-five”) as if he has heard it ever? Do you think that Barack Obama is telling the truth when he calls Brat a “great album,” implying that he has heard said album back to front?
I think he is not telling the truth. I think he talks about Charli in the way Trump did about Frederick Douglass. He might as well have said, “Charli XCX is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more.”
And yet! We are supposed to sit here and believe this nonsense. No. This has to stop. This ends now. I’m drawing a line in the sand. No more lies, Barack Obama. No more fake news.
Or, as Jennifer Lopez so memorably said:
I'm 57 and I love Charli, but that certainly wouldn't be my click pick from BRAT. Also, the last 20 minutes of J-Lo's ENOUGH is peak cinema.
It truly is incredible that one of the most cynical politicians of my lifetime sold out his allegedly professed values and accumulated all that power just so he could pal around with celebs and go on podcasts. We are such a fallen culture.
Also he includes a Charli XCX song but no Sabrina Carpenter song? Where’s the patriotism? Guess Fox News was right about him hating America.