The Poet-President — Or Not

Did you ever wonder what those English majors were doing in “Literary Analysis” class? My friend Jim, a prolific author who excels in that art, sends along this fascinating piece that will raise your estimation of those who pursue that esoteric line of work. Jack Cashill follows an elusive but captivating path on the trail of that most famous of famous undergraduate poets, Barry O’Bama. It begins thus:

“A little more than a month ago, I began my first descent into the rabbit hole of Barack Obama’s origins, a place known to swallow reputations whole. What prompted my inquiry was an e-mail from a correspondent asking my opinion of “Pop,” a poem published under the 19-year-old Obama’s name in the spring 1981 edition of Occidental College’s literary magazine, Feast. Having no prior bias going in, here is what I have concluded coming out.”

After you finish this spellbinder, be sure to read Cashill’s other analytic feats. They are living proof that the j-schools that produced today’s “Mass Media” practitioners have failed miserably, Q.E.D.

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7:44 am on March 8, 2010