President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama visited the home of actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick for a joint fundraising appearance on Thursday night, during which the president offered the gathered stars a rather frightening piece of flattery.

The intimate dinner banked about $2 million, with 50 people paying $40,000 each. … Speaking in a dimly lighted, art-filled room, Obama told supporters they would play a critical role in an election that would determine a vision for the nation’s future. “You’re the tie-breaker,” he said. “You’re the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes.” Among the celebrities on hand to hear Obama’s remarks were Oscar winner Meryl Streep, fashion designer Michael Kors and Vogue editor Anna Wintour… The president and Mrs. Obama also headlined a second glitzy fundraiser in Manhattan Thursday night that included a performance from singer Mariah Carey and remarks by singer Alicia Keys. The 250-person dinner yielded the Obama campaign at least $2.5 million.

Let me be clear.

ar·bi·ter [ahr-bi-ter] noun 1. a person empowered to decide matters at issue; judge; umpire. 2. a person who has the sole or absolute power of judging or determining.

Who knows whether The One meant to merely butter up the glamorous group of One Percenters assembled specifically to give him gobs of cash, or if he actually believes what he just said — but either way, consider me outrageously outraged. I don’t think I could come up with a group of people less suited to the task of passing the “ultimate” judgment on the state of our nation.

I’m not knocking what celebrities do for a living — I enjoy the artistry of movies, music, and fashion as much as the next gal. But, if Mitt Romney is ostensibly “out of touch” with the middle class and “removed” from the issues concerning the common man because he was a movin’ and shakin’ businessman who earned a large fortune… I don’t even know what to say. The hypocrisy confounds me.

These wealthy Hollywood types seem to dearly love their Occupy-solidarity and their “war on women” and their extreme environmentalism, issues about which most Americans don’t care at all. President Obama heeds their opinions at his own peril, writes Michael Barone: