Obama as spiritual leader
Jeff Jarvis expresses misgivings, which I share:
Though he catalogues his issues — Iraq, health care, the standard list — his message is made up of little more than stock marketing taglines. He’s not so much running for office as branding himself.
Listen to last night’s medley of his greatest hits: “Our time has come… Our movement is real… Change is coming to America… We are more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and always will be the United States of America… This time can be different…. Not this time. Not this year…. This time we have to seize the moment…. This fall, we owe the American people a real choice…. We have to choose between change and more of the same, we have to choose between looking backwards and looking forward. We have to choose between our future and our past…. We can do this… We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek…. Yes we can…. Yes we can….” Cue crowd chanting: “Yes we can…”
His supporters... buy his image and believe he is less political and that he is indeed different. I think he’s more political and his campaign is the greatest example of the selling of the president I’ve yet seen. To state it harshly, I say that relying on these stock phrases — believing that we are going to swallow empty oratory about “change” punctuated with chants of “yes we can” — is a cynical political act.
There's more:
When I complained on my blog that I want to hire a manager not a spiritual adviser for the White House ... my commenters responded with their dreamy wishes for an uplifting Obama administration instead. Said one: “I don’t want an executive, I want someone to stoke the fires of political engagement so that the people will be involved in thier government again.” Said another: “We don’t want an executive to lead us - we want someone who will amplify our voices and give us the ability to reach into government.” Nevermind the job title is chief executive.
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5 comments:
Gotta tell you though. I am and everyone I know is totally fed up with all of this fear mongering and lashing out that we have going on now. I'm only about 70% democrat, but I'm hugely looking forward to having someone with some sort of a positive, hopeful, proactive sort of a plan for a change. Of course, I'd also have to watch ton's of our tax money being spent on some sort of a "special prosecutor" if the Republicans lose and are more successful in congress.
It's all fear mongering until something blows up.
The fear mongering is realistic. We haven't caught Osama and the Taliban is sliding back into Afghanistan. Obama, meanwhile, wants to bring the troops home, and then maybe go invade Pakistan. Or so he said, once upon a time, before he started doing the Jesse Jackson chant number. Keep Hope Alive, etc. Hope, that is, if you're a Code Pink, anti-war liberal. For everyone else his change will be most unsettling.
I suppose we will find if an attitude change is enough, or if it is even real. Blair came in saying much the same (but a litle more English) and look what happened there. I don't hope anymore. We'll see.
I personally am afraid. We were attacked I know people who lost relatives in the twin towers. I take it personally.
Positive, hopeful "feelgood" bullshit just doesn't do it for me.
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