Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Obamamania . . . it's leaving me asking questions

So I'm sitting here watching Obama give a speech to a massive crowd in Houston. Wow, he can get those words flowing and the crowd yelping. He's been talking for quite a while now. I'll tell ya, I started out duly impressed. He hits all the high notes and has that stump speech down so that it's more like he's performing than giving a speech. He just nails the "change-talk" and has now rattled off almost every significant problem in the country and how he is going to fix them. He says great things like "everyone will have health care" or "college should be much more affordable" or "we will have the respect of the world again." But I have to tell you, I'm now hearing a theme come through. The Barak view of the world is that "the government is here, so don't worry, we're going to fix your problems." (for instance he'll fix the Iraq problem by leaving immediately) Now it's a typical political speech, but he's very, very good at it. I think he's really tapped into the hope that people want to have about what government will do for them. But he's utterly unrealistic and it's clear to me that four years of Obama will be full of disappointment. That's a narrative that applies to almost all politicians, but he's setting himself up for a disastrous fall. To me he sounds an awful lot like a one-term president. I think he gets elected, I do. But those believers become nay-sayers very quickly when you promise to fix every problem in their lives, but can't remotely deliver. I want to be inspired as much as the next guy, I do. But like Public Enemy said, "Don't Believe the Hype."

1 comment:

Sarah said...

Scottie...I completely agree! You just echoed the exact conversation Troy and I had the other day!

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