The Image Wars

Ouch! There's no pundit half--nay, a quarter--as vicious as Camille Paglia when she gets worked up. Her newest polemic is aimed at Obama's advisors, those "clumsy, smirky" guys she thinks are dragging down the president:

First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery. Then it was the stunt of unnerving Wall Street by sending out a shrill duo of slick geeks (Timothy Geithner and Peter Orszag) as the administration's weirdly adolescent spokesmen on economics. Who could ever have confidence in that sorry pair?

A bit over the top, certainly. It seems a bit juvenile to mock Geithner and Orszag because they look like geeks. They are geeks. That's why Obama put them in charge.

Paglia has always been more concerned with style and image rather than substance. In tis case, though, she makes a good point. Even if Obama's programs are working, he, or at least his advisers, seem awfully tone-deaf when it comes to making their case to the public.

Confidence is the most important thing right now. The Obama White House isn't projecting it. That's why Paglia picks up on.