An Infectious Smile

When I was a teenager, Artie B. was my best friend.  Nevertheless, Artie and I could not have been more different.  I was a good student; Artie was not.  I was also a straight arrow, whereas he was a little bent.  Although Artie possessed a good heart, he was a bit of a rogue.

Most of the time, I was a goodie-two-shoes, but when I was with Artie, we occasionally broke the rules.  I did not worry, however, because Artie had a knack for getting us out of trouble.  Even when we got caught red-handed, he always had a ready excuse.

But Artie had more than that; he had an infectious smile.  (Back in Brooklyn, we called it a s---eating grin.)  Whenever we were trapped, he would turn on the charm and adults would melt.  No matter how improbable the tale he told, somehow they were convinced.

With me, it never worked that way.  If I tried that with my father, he would scowl and demand that I “wipe that smirk of [my] face.”  If I did not, he would promise to wipe it off for me.

But why am I reminiscing about this?  It is because Barack Obama recently flashed the same sort of grin as Artie.  Moreover, he achieves pretty much the same results.  Onlookers give him a free pass no matter how big the whopper he tells.

Not long ago at a press conference, Obama was asked why he did not make himself more available to the press.  He declared that he wanted to, but that his people would not let him.  And then, he grinned.  And everyone chuckled.  They all knew he was fibbing, but hey, what was the big deal?

Although this incident might be dismissed as “teasing,” other instances are more serious.  Thus, Obama flashed the same grin when caught lying about whether Americans could keep their doctors under Obamacare.  He did the same when he asserted that there was not a smidgeon of corruption at the IRS.

Nowadays, he is repeating the process with respect to the Iran treaty.  When others criticize it, he proclaims that they are trying to mislead the American people.  And then he grins.  Then his audience smiles and applauds.  In the midst of being misled, they reward him for doing so.

Obama often likes to pretend that he is the only adult in the room, so how is it that he gets away with a teenage ploy?  Why do so many Americans respond the way adults did to Artie?

Part of the reason is that Barack is indeed charming.  He has an undeniably appealing way about him.  Another is that as our first minority president, people do not want him to fail.  They would rather close their eyes to reality than allow him to be exposed as a disappointment.

Bill Clinton also had an endearing aw-shucks grin.  He could get caught having sex with an intern in the oval office and have this written off as if it were a boyish prank.  George W. Bush, of course, could not.  His smile was forced, i.e., it was anything but contagious.

As for Hillary, her smile is so phony that even her friends make excuses for it.  She may yet be elected president, but it will not be because she is likeable.  Her partisans, as did those of Richard Nixon, will vote for what she symbolizes, not who she is.

The point is that if we want a competent adult in the White House, we must behave like competent adults.  We cannot allow ourselves to be seduced by appearances, whether these come packaged as a captivating smile or a symbolic achievement.

I once wondered what adults saw in Artie.  Why did they permit themselves to be hoodwinked?  Nonetheless, there was little at stake.  When it comes to the presidency, however, our safety and way of life are on the line.  We don’t need to elect amiable teenagers or ideological icons.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University