It was widely reported in the MSM today that President Obama and Vice President Biden made a burger run yesterday to Northern Virginia’s Ray’s Hell Burger. While there, the most powerful man in the world stood in line, bought himself a cheddar cheeseburger, and paid for it in cash out of his own pocket.
As a resident of DC who also works just blocks from the White House, it is utterly refreshing to have a president and vice president who embrace the nation’s capital, and who don’t treat the city alternately as an incredible annoyance or their personal fiefdom. I can’t begin to tell you how many times over the eight years of the Bush administration that my life was personally disrupted by Bush, Cheney, their wives, or their cronies shutting down major thoroughfares in the city during rush hour, simply to accommodate their personal fancy (perhaps best exemplified by Lynne Cheney’s haircut in Georgetown – however, that was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of creating absolute gridlock in the downtown core to let some motorcade pass by when there was no major scheduled event for either the president or vice president).
Also, I think Bush dined out at a DC restaurant precisely twice during his eight years here, and one of those two times he dined at the DC branch of an Austin, Texas restaurant that briefly opened up shop here after Bush’s initial election in 2000. From 2000 to 2008, it was utterly unthinkable in DC that the president might drop into a local burger shop or hot dog joint (like the incredible Ben’s Chili Bowl, where Obama dined a few months ago) to share a meal with the local citizenry.
However, sometimes a burger isn’t just a burger. To me, Obama’s burger run symbolizes his acknowledgment that even the President of the United States is just a citizen called to public service. The President is neither above us nor apart from us – he is one of us, right down to his willingness to stand in line to get a burger.
George Bush strove mightily to resurrect Nixon’s imperial presidency, not only by explicitly adopting the Nixonian formulation of the rule of law (i.e. if the president says it is legal, then it is legal), but also by setting himself apart from and above the ordinary citizens of this country. Bush’s absolute disdain for DC wasn’t some kind of populist statement about how he wasn’t going to stand for business as usual in the nation’s capital – it was an absolute reflection of his presidential world view that he was better than us, that he could do whatever he wanted not only to the city of DC, but also with the country.
So, thank you yet again, President Obama. It might have been just a burger to you, but to me it was yet another reaffirmation that we have a real president who understands, appreciates, and acknowledges his proper place in this great constitutional democracy of ours.
(Oh, and by the way, Mr. President – you should pick up the girls at their school someday and take them to Two Amy’s for some excellent pizza – it’s very close to Sidwell).