From NPR:

"While it is true that Barack Obama did not actually invent the light bulb, no one has ever thrown a switch quite like him."

They did not really say that. I made up that line.

But this story this morning about how Barack is going to make reading cool again is in that vein.

First, let me remind you that I really do like this fellow. I do think he is smart and cool and am convinced that he loves his country. I concur wholeheartedly with President Bush's statement of the obvious: "we are rooting for his success because his success will be our national success." Also, I am impressed with the President-elect's love for words. I enjoy his writing (his memoir and his major speeches in which you can clearly see his hand and style coming through).

However, sometimes the breathless mainstream fawning just goes a bit too far.

"Barack Obama is a reader."

How refreshing.

Not only that, he is a writer: "You actually have both a writer and a reader in the White House who is articulate and eloquent in his own right."

Wow. He really is the new Lincoln.

Another expert commentator observes: "And it's clear that he reads not just for entertainment, but to stimulate whatever gifts he has that make him the incredible speaker that he is."

So, he won't just be reading
My Pet Goat.

While the NPR story mentions the claims that the current president reads a lot, we certainly understand why this is going to be totally different. And while Laura Bush gets an obligatory mention as a "former librarian and voracious reader," NPR reporter Lynn Neary neglects to mention that Mrs. Bush, in partnership with the Library of Congress, initiated the National Book Festival back in 2001, which, in actual fact, has become a substantial institution to promote interest and excitement in books. A fact, evidently, not germane to the story of the new President and his potential to positively change our reading habits for the better.

As NPR suggests, maybe Barack really is the new Oprah.