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Another Fractured Fairy Tale

August 8th, 2011 1 comment

link What Happened to Obama’s Passion? – NYTimes.com.

Even after 3 years and ample evidence from which to draw some rational conclusions, people like Drew Westen are still delusional.  If you read through Westen’s opinions, the answer to the query posed in his headline is embedded within, but despite this, he is unable to make the connection with reality.  It’s as if he knows it, but can’t admit it due to ideological hard wiring.

While he may ask “what happened to Obama’s passion?”, the realists who were not drawn into Obama’s soaring rhetoric already know what happened to it.  It never existed.  It existed only in the minds of the people who,  as Weston describes it, would rather hear stirring stories than face harsh facts.  Westen acknowledges that the vast populace can be taken in by soothing rhetoric and statements that have no basis in reality.  It’s not Obama that has lost his passion.  It’s that reality has set upon the vast populace who naively bought the Pied Piper-like messages offered by his campaign.  As a politician, he has been as masterful as anyone has  ever been in American history,  aided by a complicit and adoring media.

History tells us that we should be skeptical of all politicians, whatever their affiliation. When a nation adopts a Messianic figure like Obama without paying any regard to his complete lack of accomplishments but solely on his ability to read speeches, it is not the fault of the candidate, it is the fault of the naive public.  And of course  the media which allowed this to happen.   Certainly there’s nothing wrong with invoking touchy-feely rhetoric about world peace and equality.  But if that was the only prerequisite for leading a nation, any of the last dozen or so Miss Americas could have been  just as eligible.

Although Westen claims to be an educated professional, he adamantly clings to the cliche notions that it is the usual villains of Wall Street, big business and of course the Republicans that are to blame for all malaise that affects the nation.  Now, with the brunt of reality facing them, delusionals like Westen blame Obama for changing when in fact it has been their own fairyland worldviews that are flawed.

As long as we have enlightened people like Westen avoiding reality, what chance is there that the plain folk will be able to make sense of what to do?  My hope is, plenty.  I’d be willing to bet that the drape of mass delusion that has shrouded a huge contingent of American voters has lifted.  My bet is that the preposterous statements that emanate out of the White House which are completely incongruent with reality, will start to fall on skeptical ears.  A few articles back, I made mention of the similarity of what’s happening in US politics now with the premise of  the old 1962 movie, The Music Man, which depicts a town of rubes taken in by the optimistic promises of  a hustling salesman.  The moral from the movie is the same as the moral we can apply to real life:  The only real changes come from within, not through someone else.  Westen should absorb that instead of the fairy tales he’s used to.  Enough of the storytelling already.

76 Trombones In The Hit Parade

July 20th, 2010 No comments

link Illinois Failures Go Nationwide Under Obama – IBD – Investors.com.

An eye opening article to some, but the issues are well known to those who follow these kinds of things.  When I am roped into a conversation which veers towards American politics, invariably I am surrounded by those who still believe that the Obama team has what it takes to turn the U.S. economy around.  It’s often a waste of time to have them point out ANY and I mean ANY policies implemented since election that have been effective in reviving the U.S. economy.

What’s interesting is that now, 2 years after election when policies clearly are pushing the U.S. deeper into all kinds of long term messes, the retorts have changed to profess that  time is what is needed to allow initiatives to work out.  While Canadians may be excused for naivete and adherence to ideological tenets, Americans should know better and this is not just partisan opinion.  The writer, Shlafly, clearly shows the results of what years of mismanagement and misguided policies can do to a region.

“…Illinois was the stomping ground for years for Obama, his top advisers Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod, and his appointees such as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. After they promoted themselves to Washington to run the country, other Obama associates who didn’t make the cut continued to run Illinois into the ground, as the Illinois unemployment rate jumped from less than 5% to nearly 11%…”

and,

“…Under years of Democratic leadership, Illinois has refused to honor its obligations, cut spending or trim its shockingly large deficit, which at $12 billion per year approaches nearly half its budget. As a result, Illinois’ credit rating has been downgraded and it pays a massive amount in interest on its loans…”

People have the unique opportunity to peer into the future like Ebeneezer Scrooge and can see the Ghost of What Will Be if this star studded team of ideologues is allowed to run the entire nation the way they’ve run Illinois for the past generation.  But to many ideologues, it’s as if none of this matters and this curious aspect of human psychology is fascinating as it is infuriating.  It’s as if reality is an abstract notion that only affects other people.  We’ve all heard of Stockholm syndrome ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome )wherein the hostages grow to identify and sympathize with their captors during  captivity.  It looks like this phenomenon is occurring on a massive scale but which future historians will dub Illinois Syndrome.

Or perhaps, it’s as simple as people just want to believe. Many years ago, one of the classic films of all time, The Music Man, featured Robert Preston playing the role of the con man who went from town to town selling dreams of musical talent to kids.  The underlying theme was  the boundless optimism of small town America and their faith in their fellow man.  Of course this was set during a much simpler time in America, but the boundless sense of faith in public figures still exists today despite well founded cynicism. 

It’d be a shame to see people’s good nature taken advantage of.