Obama's "day of conversation about fatherhood"

From the Washington Post: Obama recruits "famous daddies dads" to "mentor" boys about fatherhood. I don't think he vetted the men as well as he might have. The Post's Dan Zak writes an amusing (decidedly not gushing) account of this "national day of conversation about fatherhood."

The students of Ballou Senior High School's automotive technology program can thank Barack Obama's absent father for their current predicament: getting rapped at by Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC. . . .

Mr. DMC couldn't seem to stop talking about what a great father rapper he is:

"I didn't come here to be a famous rap dude," says McDaniels, standing in front of a hydraulic brake demonstrator across from three busted-up cars on hydraulic lifts. "I didn't come here to be the king of rock. If [Run-DMC] didn't do what we did, there would be no hip-hop."

Let us give thanks.

"What I represent is purpose and destiny. . . . Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. . . . I was like y'all, a school kid growing up in the 'hood. . . . And I became not just a rapper but one of the greatest ever to do it. And the reason it happened was because I took every opportunity."

"Put me on the stage with any rapper," he challenges the students. "I will defeat them and I won't curse at all."

Well, that's good to hear. Zak has some fun quoting Mr. DMC extensively:

". . . importance of being responsible . . . leaders of tomorrow . . . Jay-Z. . . I ain't talking about all the great rap records . . ."
More DMC: ". . . the showbiz aspect . . . iPods! . . . 3 percent of what pop culture is all about. . . .You ain't the king, I'm the king . . . "
DMC redux: ". . . what it's like to live in the 'hood . . . take advantage of every opportunity . . . I had a Cadillac gold chain . . . "

You have to feel sorry for the young men who had to sit through this nonsense. And to add insult to injury, Biden got in on the act:

At one point Vice President Joe Biden sits down with another group and talks at length about his sons. Some of the teenage fathers-in-training are drowning in sweat, and Biden talks so long his bald spot seems to burn purple in the sun.

Those poor kids. Zak's sympathies are with them. And he exposes a certain perverse logic in Mr. DMC's testimony:

Then he [DMC] says that if he hadn't been given up for adoption and cared for by a loving family in Hollis, Queens -- We're funky fresh from Hollis, Queens! -- there would be no Run-DMC and, hence, no hip-hop.
And it would follow that without Barack Hussein Obama the father, there would be no Barack Hussein Obama the son, and maybe without the father's absence, there would be no President Obama, and no White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which coordinated yesterday's events and will sponsor regional town halls on fatherhood in the future.

Thereby proving beyond a shadow of a doubt the absolute necessity of the involved father!

I'm thinking Mr. Zak is wishing he had his afternoon back.

Here's a related post from March when Michelle O recruited celebrities to mentor DC girls. Not to be mothers -- heck no. For role models she enlisted mostly actresses, singers, and a couple of star athletes. You see, what American children need today is more celebrity worship.

Don't miss the special edition of CBS Sunday Morning tomorrow: Barack Obama: American Dad. I don't remember any tributes to "W: the Father." The networks were too busy with "George Bush: American Satan" and "GWB: Evil monkey-man."

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