Didn't You Mean Uppity, Massa?

Wire Services are not known for parody, so the piece about Barack Obama's "arrogance" today by Ron Fournier, who "has covered politics for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years," must be meant to be taken seriously.

"Barack Obama better watch his step," Fournier writes, "He's bordering on arrogance. The dictionary defines the word as an 'offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.' Obama may not be offensive or overbearing, but he can be a bit too cocky for his own good."

The indictment cites such statement as "To know me is to love me" and "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there."

"True," Fournier concedes, "there's a certain amount of tongue-in-cheekiness to such remarks--almost as if Obama doesn't want to take his adoring crowds and political ascent too seriously. He was surely kidding when he told supporters in January that by the time he was done speaking "'a light will shine down from somewhere.'"

Nonetheless, "both Obama and his wife, Michelle, ooze a sense of entitlement," according to the AP's resident character analyist, who concludes:

"As he told 7,000 supporters at a rally last month, 'I am an imperfect vessel for your hopes and dreams.'

"Nobody expects Obama to be perfect. But he better never forget that he isn't."

The Associated Press might want to consider that having the clueless and irony-impaired calling African-Americans "uppity" is not the best strategy for a wire service in the 21st century.

Maybe Obama will explain it to them when he makes his speech about race tomorrow.