In And Out Of The Shadow Of Obama
OttO on Aug 05 2008 at 10:04 pm | Filed under: Election 2008: Jihad Watch, Politics
"Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." - The Manchurian Candidate (line repeated by Shaw's brainwashed colleagues)
"George W was destined from birth to lead us into the valley of the shadow of death. I believe that Obama was destined from birth to lead us out. For us, there is a gift in entering and in leaving to the soul." - Denise Gibel Molini 08/01/2008
Come again?
Generally, we worship a president after he's proven himself to be a great president. This is like naming Lincoln's birthday a federal holiday before his election in 1860. Ronald Reagan wasn't truly revered until after he left office - while serving, he was still just a flawed politician.
I don't know Denise very well (I believe she's new to the Vine) and I'm sure she's a wonderful person but I'm curious to know if she - and others - really believe this kind of stuff. Whether it stems from hatred of George W. Bush or fawning admiration for Barack Obama, it begs to be asked: are we really going to apply religious overtones to our feelings about fellow men?
Is Obama the Manchurian Candidate minus the international conspiracy, supported by zombies and tall-tale-tellers and people so desperate for meaning in their own lives that they are willing to turn a mere (and unaccomplished) politician into a superman?
These guys are, after all, just politicians - yes, even The Obama. They are flesh and blood just like you and me. Yes, they are typically privileged and molded for office, they tend to be ambitious and smart and fortunate and they manage to convince a majority or plurality of voters to support them. Bush is not going bring about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Obama is not going to part the Red Sea. When Bush leaves office in less than six months, he will have left some things better and some things worse. When President Obama or McCain leave office in four or eight years, they will have left behind some things for the better, some for the worse.
The country is bigger than one man and history is bigger than most men. There are 535 members of Congress who collectively have more influence than the president. There is a judicial system that, while imperfect, can do things the president can not do. The presidency is bigger than any other individual perhaps, but not any other body of government in our system.
One of my most consistently applicable and repeated critiques of the Left in the past year has been the line, "To the Left, it's not about the 'what' - it's about the 'who'."
Barack Obama is the culmination of that trait.
I was in the kitchen of a woman recently who I didn't know well but knew was a committed Democrat. She asked me if I thought McCain had a chance and I said, "Sure, I think McCain has a great chance." She sighed and then commented on how depressed she would be if Obama didn't win.
I didn't respond but I was flabbergasted. Here was a successful, older-than-middle-aged, cultured woman who was going to base her personal happiness on the turnout of an election.
I want McCain to win. If he loses, I will be disappointed and concerned - but no one should view the success or failure of a candidate as the be-all, end-all to their own lives. I will not be depressed if McCain loses. I will roll up my sleeves and keep doing what I do and fight the fight again in four years.
People need to face up to the very real possibility that Barack Obama is going to lose this election. It's Obama's lack of a qualifying background that makes the whole worship thing so hard to understand.
So my questions amount to this: what is Obama's single biggest strength? What makes people believe that he is the answer to their problems, that he will save the world? What has he accomplished that would make people believe that he'll accomplish great things (or anything for that matter) in the White House? Why has the man-child been able to come almost from out of nowhere and capture the minds and hearts and even spiritualness of so many people?
My personal opinion is that it's a sickness - that there is truth to the claim that the Left treats politics like religion with scriptures and temples and prophets and messianic figures and judgment days. Some of the worst leaders in history have risen to power on these kinds of waves.
My advice for these supporters is to vote, campaign, run for office, stay politically aware, write, organize, contact lawmakers and fight for what you believe in. But the notion that Obama is going to lead us out of the valley of death makes me wonder: where exactly is he going to lead us to?
