There's no harm in a little overindulgence if it gives hope to people, but the masses are inflating this unremarkable man to the point of even his discomfort.Certainly, all have noticed the rhetoric of Obama's speeches changing from "Yes We Can" to...."Whoa, let's hold on a minute." Obama himself is slowly attempting to bring Americans back down to reality.
Meanwhile, celebrities have set up camp. Oprah aired her special yesterday, debuting the beautiful "America's Song", written and performed by Hollywood celebrities who are completely out of touch with the average American.
Barack Obama is not Martin Luther King. He has not done anything spectacular yet, though he's already being hailed as the hero of our time.
In his inaugural speech this afternoon, don't be surprised to hear less "Yes We Can" and a bit more of the expectation lowering he's been spouting of late.
Obama deserves a chance to fix the economy, the health care system and unemployment. He's earned that. But he does not deserve the spectacle that has descended on Washington. Let's wait until he does more than demonstrate exceptional fundraising skills before we label him the next Abraham Lincoln.
That being said, well wishes go out to Barack Obama as he becomes the 44th president of the United States. Democrats and Republicans alike are counting on him, as well as the other branches of our government, to make good decisions for a country in turmoil.
5 comments:
All this hoopla is about one thing that the American people have been missing for so long: hope. They desperately want it. They want to stop being fearful and start being hopeful. It's what great leaders provide; It's human nature.
(It's Brandon from class)
To an extent, he deserves some of the hoopla. All of it? No. But let's not pretend that this hoopla was self-created. Our over-sensationalist media is at fault.
But I think it's justified to make a big deal of the first black president. It shows progress in the healing process of curing racial inequality. We have a long way to go, sure, but it's a step in the right direction.
The fact that he is the first black president is spectacular given how racist our country is. It's a sign of what a remarkable man he is.
However, we now need results and tough decisions to be made. I agree that he shouldn't be given a free ride. No elected official should receive such a luxury. But we all have to root for him to succeed.
I understand your point. I suppose that I believe if we were really past race, he would be the 44th president of the United States, not the first black president. I think that the day we are truly color blind will be the day we've gotten past race.
"But we all have to root for him to succeed."
Perhaps we could've gone by this motto over the past few years and stopped Bush bashing long enough become united.
It's not the man...it's us. We have the control. Not George, not Barack. We've let ourselves down. Our neighbors let us down. There are millions of us and just one president.
I actually supported Bush through the first few years. "Mission accomplished" was the beginning of the end for me, followed shortly by the truth that there were no WMDs. Then the patriot act began morphing into something more.
That's why I like the theme of hope. It is a basic need for humans to have hope in order to survive. A constant climate of fear reduces us to hiding and subserviance, much like how you will behave if you are afraid for your job.
The president is just one person. Their job is to be a leader of our country. Great leaders inspire confidence, uphold the ideals and set an example.
I once had an employee and friend that always said of upper management: "A fish rots at the head." I think that's very true of our country. Most of the country believed in our leader enough to get caught up in the fear created by our leaders to trust them to take care of us. That very fear turned us into the losers and those against us became winners.
A bully only picks on others when he creates fear; when the other person no longer reacts the bully moves on.
"No man is an island." We as individuals have little control; however, as a group we have limitless potential much like the original colonists. It takes leadership to rally the individuals to a common purpose and create the synergy possible from the many. One match creates a tremendous amout of light when lit in a dark cave. That same, single match is overwhelmed by the light of day.
Fear makes us hide. But Hope: it brings a promise of a brighter tomorrow.
The circus must have gone to Washington because it now sounds like Rush is in charge of the republican party.
At least they are going down in flames. Yesterday, despite overwhelming popular support for the economic stimulus package that Obama is pushing through Congress, not a single Republican congressman voted for it. So at the next election, what are they going to say when voters ask them what they did to help the economy? Is their answer going to be that they wanted more tax cuts for the wealthy?
Second, look who seems to be in charge of the Republican Party now. Despite Obama’s overwhelming popularity, Rush Limbaugh declared that he wants Obama to fail. That puts Limbaugh squarely in the same camp as Osama bin Laden, not to mention lingering racists who would cut off their own nose to spite his race.
But Limbaugh didn’t just attack Obama, he also made rude noises about the Republican leadership. So on Tuesday, Republican congressman Phil Gengrey offered a relatively mild rebuke:
I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach. I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don’t have to try to do what’s best for your people and your party. You know you’re just on these talk shows and you’re living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn’t be or wouldn’t be good leaders, they’re not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell.
It took less than 24 hours for Gengrey to tuck his tail between his legs for daring to attack the holy one. Gengrey’s office released the following statement:
Because of the high volume of phone calls and correspondence received by my office since the Politico article ran, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to grassroots conservatives. Let me assure you, I am one of you… As long as I am in the Congress, I will continue to fight for and defend our sacred values. I have actively opposed every bailout, every rebate check, every so called “stimulus.” And on so many of these things, I see eye-to-eye with Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of what yesterday’s headline may have read, I never told Rush to back off. I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives — that was not my intent. I am also sorry to see that my comments in defense of our Republican Leadership read much harsher than they actually were intended, but I recognize it is my responsibility to clarify my own comments.
Now more than ever, we need to articulate a clear conservative message that distinguishes our values and our approach from those of liberal Democrats who are seeking to move our nation in the wrong direction. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative giants are the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience. Everyday, millions and millions of Americans — myself included — turn on their radios and televisions to listen to what they have to say, and we are inspired by their words and by their determination.
And Gengrey even called Limbaugh’s radio show to abjectly apologize:
I want to express to you and all your listeners my very sincere regret for those comments I made yesterday … I clearly ended up putting my foot in my mouth … I regret those stupid comments.
If the Republican Party is now being run by a racist drug addict who wants America to fail, they are clearly doomed.
Post a Comment