Fuku Obamanus

Fuku Obamanus
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When former senator Tom Daschle strode into his confirmation hearing last month accompanied by Bob Dole, the cast of 30 Rock, it was clear why he had chosen N.E.R.D.'s "Rockstar" as his entrance music. Having been one of the first democratic bigwigs to put his cajones to el viento and throw his support behind the junior senator from Illinois instead of then presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, many beltway insiders thought Daschle had lost his marbles. Well as we found out on November 4th Daschle hadn't lost his marbles, he just had them molded into eyeglass frames.

The raucous applause that greeted Daschle upon his entrance continued well after his bi-partisan hype-man, Dole, had finished distributing the Viagra gift bags to their senate colleagues. And save for the awkward moment when 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander started a wave and told Dole to pass it on to Tina Fey, Daschle's confirmation hearing went off without a hitch. Which explains why so many people were completely caught off guard by yesterday's announcement by Daschle that he is withdrawing his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Daschle's stunning resignation arrives less than two weeks after Caroline Kennedy's decision to suspend her "campaign" for the New York senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, about a month after Bill Richardson's ouster as the the prospective Commerce Secretary. Daschle, Kennedy and Richardson all expended tremendous amounts of political capital to get Obama elected, and within two-weeks of his inauguration, have all been shuttled to the political margins.

While I'm sure former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich can expound at length on how this happened. Instead, I would rather direct everyone's attention to Junot Diaz's brilliant 2007 novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Part of the narrator's task in Oscar Wao is explicating how the Fuku (curse) that has befallen Oscar's family is a microcosm of the broader Fuku Americanus (curse of the New World).

Tom, Caroline and Bill may be the only examples thus far, but their recent woes seem to beg the question whether we should start thinking about a Fuku Obamanus, curse of the new administration, and urging all those who may be potentially afflicted to take appropriate precautions.

p.s.
Tax-day is April 15th.

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