Oh what a beautiful world we choose to live in, free of unwanted imperfections and the pesky constrains of context.

Instead of being proud of the fact that the Obama speech in Ghana was simulcast into Metaplace and second Life, you should actually listen to that speech carefully and ask yourself "Why did Obama lecture the Africans in Ghana about good governance, democracy, and freedom but not the Arabs in Cairo?"

No... really. The Cairo Speech received a lot of press leading up to it and then afterwards for Obama extending a hand in friendship, but that same hand is quite literally bitchslapping Africans for the same totalitarian evils his would-be friends reek of.

I quote Anne Bayefsky of Eye On The UN, a relentless watchdog group that's been tracking the growing appeasement and double-standards of the Obama Administration:

In Egypt, he chose not to utter the words "terrorism" or "genocide." In Egypt, there was nothing "brutal" he could conjure up, no "corruption" and no "repression".

In Ghana, with a 70% Christian population, he mentioned "good governance" seven times and added direct calls upon his audience to "make change from the bottom up." He praised "people taking control of their destiny" and pressed "young people" to "hold your leaders accountable."

He made no such calls for action by the people of Arab states--despite the fact that not a single Arab country is "free," according to the latest Freedom House global survey.

Before the Muslim world Obama donned the role of apologist-in-chief. Over and over again his examples of shortfalls in the protection of rights and freedoms were American: the "prison at Guantanamo Bay," "rules on charitable giving [that] have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation," impediments to the "choice" of Muslim women to shroud their bodies.

Christian Africa was to be treated to no such self-flagellation. In a rare tongue-lashing for Africans from any American president, he chastised: "It's easy to point fingers and to pin the blame of these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense helped to breed conflict ... But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy ... or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants ... tribalism and patronage and nepotism ... and ... corruption."

(Read the rest... it's a strong condemnation of Obama and his administration's rancid foreign policy.)

Yes, it's hip and cool that the White House is allowing virtual worlds access to this content in new and interesting ways. The problem is, are people really using this access productively and intelligently, or are they just captivated by the showmanship and presentation without deeper analysis and critical thinking?

The appearance of an Obama simulacrum is just slight-of-hand, puppetry, and meaningless stagecraft. Whether on a screen on a screen, a voice on a radio or stream, an avatar prop, or a flesh-and-blood man standing in your living room reciting lines fed to him through a wireless headset or a teleprompter... it's just words until you put it into context.

Good try on the post-speech panel discussion, but as long as folks allow themselves to be dazzled by the puppets, they won't take the time to question the stench and machinations of the puppet-masters doing this doubletalker-in-chief's bidding.

All hail the Mass-Marketed Man Of The Hour, fast-tracked to fame on many achievements but so few accomplishments.

Second Life and virtual worlds are like any other form of media, new or mass or traditional - no matter what the wizardry employed, it ultimately serves to provide tools for people to reinforce their beliefs and entrench themselves deeper, right or wrong.