Get ready for nine months of this kind of thing.
« Romney's Choices | Main | The Small Tent » Obama Messiah Watch (II)05 Jan 2008 11:49 am Comments (14)
What Rickm said. Go back to 2000 and look at some of the adoring crap written about W. I know Ross and his fellow conservatives are grieving the likely loss of their power over the electorate these days, but whining about the fact that Obama's fans are gushing seems pretty petty. 
The MSM has almost single-handedly willed St. John of McCain to GOP frontrunner status. If you think they're giving Obama the messiah treatment, I guess that makes McCain their Lord God Almighty.
You know the Repubs are in bad shape when their best argument is to mock the enthusiasm of the Democrats. After years of doe eyed praise for Bush's "transformational" leadership, it is all of a sudden cool not to care. Enjoy the minority.
somedude concludes: "pretty petty." Well, there was never a chance that the conservative movement was going to go out classy, was there?
If it's any consolation, later this year you'll see the same gushing about whichever Misfit Toy the GOP picks.
"Go back to 2000 and look at some of the adoring crap written about W." So now I should feel good about my *own* party's lockstep veneration of a substanceless himbo as God's only begotten son?
So now I should feel good about my *own* party's lockstep veneration of a substanceless himbo as God's only begotten son? The point, I think, is that this is how a lot of Americans engage in politics. Mocking them is fine, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Shmaltzy enthusiasm for Obama is likely to increase along with his success, but it would be error to mistake that enthusiasm as the reason for his success. Obama is an extraordinarily appealing and eloquent politician, and by all appearances is also an intelligent, sensible and decent person as well. That is bound to make people who agree with his politics excited about the prospects for his election. The thing Obama supporters should ask themselves is (a) whether they support the agenda the candidate is outlining, and (b) whether they believe the candidate has the integrity and competence to make that agenda real. This is also what W's supporters should've asked themselves in February of 2000. It's pretty clear to me that, between Obama and Bush, you get two very different answers.
The thing Obama supporters should ask themselves is (a) whether they support the agenda the candidate is outlining, and (b) whether they believe the candidate has the integrity and competence to make that agenda real. This is also what W's supporters should've asked themselves in February of 2000. It's pretty clear to me that, between Obama and Bush, you get two very different answers. I agree with that, and I think Obama would be a better president than Bush. And, since that's damning him with faint praise, I'll say flat-out that I think he could be a good president. That said, I'm a little worried by the rhetoric Klein employed in his post. My worry is minimal, since I thought his post was laughable and I get the impression most people agree. But I will be VERY worried if a significant number of people actually begin to believe that Obama transcends politics, is the triumph of the Word over the flesh, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. One of the checks on a Democratic president would be the left wing of his own party. If they remain skeptical of an aggressive and adventurous foreign policy that will act as a check on a Democratic president. If they believe, as Klein pretty much said, that Obama is better than Jesus (as he's commonly thought of by religious Christians), then the left wing of his party will have given Obama a blank check to do whatever the hell he wants. Would he pull out of Iraq? I don't know. The guy's all about audacity, and he's all about hope. Is an expeditious withdrawal from Iraq the audacious and hopeful policy? It's not. But it might be the thoughtful and intelligent policy. It'd be worth focusing on Obama's rationality and competence, rather than his status as the First Coming of Progressive American Jesus. We'll probably end up with better policy that way.
Hillary is a second-rate campaigner with a first-class organization: a bit like having a great car and a lousy driver. She's toast. We can't count on her to take Obama out.
fougasseu asks: "Too bad Colin Powell got kicked out of the neocon inner circle. He'd make mincemeat out of Obama. Cheney and Rumsfeld may have done more lasting damage to the GOP than to Iraq. We need our own surge - but who would lead it?" Fill a big plastic bag with 200 pounds of manure and name it Jesus H. Bush. Sixty percent of the Repiglican Party will vote for it no questions asked. This tactic basically worked for you guys in 2000 and 2004, so why mess with success?
BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
fougasseu, Colin Powell was never in the neocon inner circle. That was patently obvious. Up until he lied at the UN before the invasion, Powell was an honorable man. Certainly one of the only Republicans with national stature who wasn't transparently dishonest or disingenuous. He regrets it now, sure, but that was a very low point from which his reputation won't ever recover.
Ross, while I'm not much of a Clift fan, this article is hardly about Obama being a messiah...it's about an interview with an old soldier who may or may not think Obama is a messiah... That said, think about the Dem party for a second. What candidates have they had a chance to get excited about recently? Kerry? Gore of 2000 (wooden man)? Of course they're enthused. This young fella is at the least an excellent politician, at best a great president...what's not to get excited about? Add to that the last seven years of the inarticulate face we'd put on our royalty, the glee of having someone in the WH with a grand command of our language is reason enough for a lot of us to be excited. ;0
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If only he were a complete moron we wouldn't have this type of thing.
We'd have Peggy Noonan talk about the size of his balls.
Which do you prefer? Are you a ball man?
Posted by Rickm | January 5, 2008 12:46 PM