I was going to write a post attempting to explain the 'over reaction' to Obama's upcoming address to the school children of America - an over reaction that I guess I am guilty of, judging by a prior post of mine, a response borne of racism apparently, if the solemn reasonings of a fair amount of liberals are to be believed - which comes as a bit of a shock to me since I'm pretty sure I'm not a racist [hell, I'm Canadian - I'm barely anything at all] - but, anyway, I was going to write a post attempting to explain the as far as I'm concerned quite legitimate root of the anxiety, based as it is on a growing body of evidence that seems to suggest Obama is a demagogue populist who believes that as long as the force of his persona can convince his people a thing is right it therefore must be right, QED - I was going to write a post attempting to explain how this anxiety is a reflection of a perception of a cult of personalty brewing about the man, a markedly left wing cult - when I read that Michael Moore has released a new film that characterizes capitalism as a great evil [my, how original], a virtual sin that will be corrected by Obama, a depravity that Obama will deliver us from if only we are courageous enough to let him have his way - even quotes the rotund reactionary as saying that the revolution will succeed as long as we support Obama regardless of the quality of the policies he engenders, words to that effect anyway - and realized that fat boy Mike had done me the favour of obviating a need that I seem to have pursed anyways - go figure.
You see, I can't really know if Obama is a radical lefty - my best guess is he's an impish lefty wolf dressed in a sheepish something, his slim pre-presidential resume certainly suggests that, but who knows - the burden of leadership can often scare the sanity of moderation into a person. But what I do know for sure is that the fatuous acolytes that slavishly follow after him, believing him to be the avatar of a new world order that will make real their most prized conceits, I do know that these fanatics are not a phantom of any putative subconscious racism, they most decidedly exist, roiling in false ideals and a self aggrandizing anger, looming on the horizon just as dangerously, if not more so, than the bible thumping idiots who lauded the coming of Bush as a harbinger of a rapture that would deliver them unto their Lord.
And so it is when Obama proposes a speech to school children, en masse, and attaches to it a White House authored lesson plan that seems to make Obama himself the focus of the event - not the precious little fucking children or education or whatever bullshit one might wish to fancy would be the focus of such an insipid production - well, you see how that might disturb a man's conscience, how a man might come to the conclusion that give Obama an inch leftward and the fanatics hungering after him will demand a mile. Has there been overreaction? Sure, there are wackos enough on both sides who are more than willing to exploit any opportunity to wax idiotic. But aside from that sideshow, is there reasonable cause to question Obama's motives? Absolutely.
I tend to believe that democracy only becomes a rational exercise when we see it as a not infallible but still largely effective mechanism for moderating political extremes, thereby freeing the ambitions of individuals and mitigating a natural fear of change - I think that's where its true value lies and tend to view anything that acts or seeks to undermine that quality as bad, whether the threat approaches from the left or the right.
