This is a tough season for me.
I’m not speaking of autumn. I like autumn. A gradual cooling is nice; the swirl of falling leaves, brightly colored, wondrous. It’s good to have a gentle transition to winter’s cold.
It’s the presidential electoral season that’s tough, both the before part and the after part.
As I have argued many times, the best hope for our republic lies in the action of local activists and leaders, not only demanding limited government but also showing how it’s done. If there’s no political market for freedom at the local level, it won’t flourish at the federal level, let me tell you.
And yet politicians and media emphasize the doings and sayings of folks at the top of the heap.
Worse yet, there seems a budding epidemic of president worship.
Oh, Obama is a smart guy, a good orator. He might end up being a great president. But he hasn’t even begun that job.
I’m just not very good at adoring politicians, of putting them on a pedestal, of pretending they’re superhuman. So, let’s cool it. Hero worship is more than nonsense, it’s idolatrous nonsense.
And yet too many politicians encourage the wrong kind of support. And receive it.
We need a version of hope that’s bigger than one man, a version that rests some responsibility on our actions as something other than voters and sycophants.
I am hoping this is possible. Say it with me: Yes, we can.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
6 replies on “Would-Be Messiahs Need Not Apply”
I spent nearly 30 years of my life as an active duty sailor (including six tours of duty in Vietnam) plus another 10 years building Navy ships. I wish Barak Obama well — very well indeed. Force of habit makes me think of him as my Commander in Chief: I could not fail to wish him well! I would feel the same way about John McCain.
My loyalty when I raised my right hand when I was 17 was not to any man or political party, but to a document called the Consitution of the United States of America.
I swore to protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic. At age 70, my oath of fealty still stands and I woud still die defending Amaerica if called upon to do so — so help me God!
My optimism is always tempered w/ just a touch of cynicism. Right now, based on media & elitist adoration of Obama we are seeing & hearing, my feelings of cynicism are significantly stronger.
The focus on his every move, the pathetic calls for Bush to resign early so Obama can take office, stories about his kids school choice (which most Americans do not have the opportunity to do), & almost everything & anything about him, his family, his policies he might propose, solutions he might come up with, decisions he might make, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Stop! Please! Its too much already!
Its getting old & he is yet to be inaugurated. For up to eight years we have been inundated w/ the screams of hate of George Bush, Dick Cheney, all things Christian, Republican, conservative, etc. Now that a good socialist (Marxist?) has been elected, we are all to gaze up in his eyes & worshipfully wait for any utterance he may bestow upon us. What bunk.
If this guy cannot be the messiah the media & leftists have built him up to be, he will look a total failure. Despite successes, any failures will become magnified.
Worse is that if he fails, some of our more jaded citizens will imply we should not have elected a man of color. That too is bunk, but some will still say it.
By implication, we are being told Obama will need our support & help. That could be taken to mean, we will brook no dissent. And some of his minions have a history of being vicious intolerants portrayed as tolerants. Lawsuits to silence TV ads, mass phone call-ins to deny radio air time to someone being interviewed about his investigating past Obama relationships, etc., mean many may very well face attacks if they speak out against one of his policies. The media & other leftists have a nasty habit of piling on anyone who speaks out against whatever cause celebre’ they have embraced. That too is bunk!
The way this is being handled right now, is like too much sugar. Its good in moderation, but when there is too much sugar, its sickening. Personally, I am sick already.
Fawning over politicians who are responsible in part or whole for the current mess this nation is in (and yes, Obama was a Senator & could have worked to avert this mess too!), is over the top.
Worse is that many will follow along like sheep, neglecting or ignoring the downside effects of some of the decisions our politicians plan to make. Blind obedience is not my cup of tea.
“Oh, Obama is a smart guy, a good orator.”
I see no evidence of either. He was a mediocre affirmative action college student and law student. He failed the bar exam and never practiced law. He talks a lot, looks and sounds good, but usually has no substance to his words (“We need change.”). The few times he speaks of real ideas or issues, he proves his stupidity: ‘redistributing wealth should be the goal of government,’ ‘our country needs mandatory volunteerism,’ ‘we can strenghten our nation by downsizing our military,’ and ‘increasing corporate taxes will help our poor’.
The fact that Obama got elected and that millions of people believe he is a messiah or prophet just shows that most voters are less intelligent than him.
DON’T YOU THINK IT IS TIME WE GOT ALL THE PATRIOTIC AMERICANS WE CAN TO JOIN TOGETHER AND DEVELOP A PARTY THAT IS REALLY “BY THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE”?
WE CAN CALL IT THE “ACTIVIST PARTY” AND GO AFTER THE DISHONEST ELECTED.
Obama the orator,
Obama the empty shell!
The only thing he has been been able to point to as accomplishment is his neighborhood rabblerousing followed by a very brief stent in the senate where he didn’t even vote. God forbid this is the messiah we are to follow!???
This imperial president-elect stuff is a real sign of what is coming. I think it may ultimately prove his downfall. When things keep going badly and he can’t handle the economy, this may sway people in two years. He will get better at the public handling of problems but his solutions will only add to the troubles. The current info coming to the fore about FDR’s poor handling of the depression will only help our side.
The attacks by us on the right will have to be focussed on his policies and their failures. We cannot focus on him at all. It cannot become personnal at all, it has to stay focused on failed programs of “big Govt.” and his socialist policies.