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.