The Fallacies of Messianic Presidencies.
I read a Maureen Dowd column lamenting how difficult it is to mock Barack Obama when a thought occured to me. She'd mentioned how many of his followers view him so seriously. as a messiah of sorts who will save our country and our economy, that they don't like jokes about him.
Ironically, or perhaps not, this brought me back to President George W Bush's second inaugural day. It was raining, as if the heavens were crying for the death and destruction which four more years of this sociopath and wrecker of nations was to bring. Well I don't even recall which of the big networks I was watching, but the reporter interviewed this older woman with a country accent about her feelings being at the Inauguration. As she visibly choked up and began crying she explained how blessed she was to be watching this man whom God had given the presidency to, and how blessed he was by God and all this other stuff linking God to Bush and God to her. Well two thoughts occur to me. Given all the blood on President Bush's hands, not mention floodwaters, do these Christians who believed him to be a God-inspired man still believe this even though his own people denounced them as "crazies"? We were carried into eight years of the most destructive and harmful presidency in US history (not for us since only about 10,000 Americans have died in terror attacks, flood, and wars of lies,- far fewer than died under Lincoln- but for the millions of Iraqis whose lives have been destroyed
and the economic destruction which will bring our country low and which is reverberating into the developing world in terms of famine and epidemics aided and abetted by American economic "choices."), by people who believed that this man was "God's servant" doing "God's work" and all sorts of other things I have heard.
Well another thought occurs to me. What if President Bush WAS put here by God? That disturbing idea suggests that God DOESN'T bless America anymore as our politicians love to say as people lose their lives and livelihoods at the feet of failed economic ideology and failed imperialistic schemes. If Bush was put here by God to help speed up global warming by denying it and drilling more oil, to destroy our military in an Iraqi quagmire, to allow our largest Southern port to be completely wiped out in floods, for the Plains to be wiped by tornadoes, floods and storms on a fairly continuous basis etc, then that means that God does not like us. If God picked President Bush, then God clearly does not like Americans or the United States. He clearly believes that our nation should be weakened and humbled. Considering that others of the Republican (religious) party have suggested that the United States is "the last, greatest hope of humankind."-Mitt Romney or "the greatest nation in the history of humanity, humankind"- Romney again- then it is a humbling that is long overdue. The hyperbolic statements of American politicians display an arrogance which is unparalleled in the world, and in light of our growing irrelevance as a power is also comical and farcical.
The people who believe God sent us George W Bush are often the same people who believe in a punishing and wrathful God. If they are correct then their beliefs are consistent. We were too big, too morally sanctimonious and so God punished us with George W Bush. (God also seems to be punishing Iraq and Afghanistan but that is another blog post.) God wants to teach us humility so that we can once again reside in a land of "milk and honey." Unfortunately, since the Republican party is the party of religion and "individualism" (i.e. I was born rich, and daddy's friends gave me jobs, so somehow I "earned" it) this means that the current crop of deluded Republican businessmen are not the ones to lead us in humility since they are men of overweaning pride and arrogance. Mike Huckabee was the minister who might have displayed the humility God demands, but as we see, the religious portion of the party does not control it, so I am not optimistic the John McCain would help save us from God's wrath- assuming of course that the religious "God gave us Bush" Republicans are correct. Since McCain himself believes that he is such an awesome guy (see his campaign ads that talk about how "maverick" he is rather than explaining what he might actually do as president), he clearly has not learned any lessons in humility, but from one of the bottom achievers in his Naval Academy class who somehow (read: his important Admiral Daddy) ended up a Navy flier (one of the elites) and has no problem talking about how he earned everything (including his second millionaire heiress wife after ditching his first when she got too old for him) he is not the picture of Christian humility at all.
As for Obama. He is not a terrible guy, but the messianic urges driving people behind him should worry us. If this goes to his head, we might end up with the Democratic version of George W Bush, an insane, power-mad goof. At least Obama is smarter than Bush and actually did earn what he has (though of course with help from his friends as he will actually admit), but messiahs can be disappointing or at least I assume since no one talks about Bush's "Religious Base" much anymore, nor do they talk TO them either. Obama is definitely going to be better than McCain, but the logic of American politics means that he won't change as much as those "worshipping" him seem to think he will change. US politicians need a does of reality and a dose of humility and those politicians who preach this don't get anywhere. However, hyperbolic statements about the "greatest nation in the history of humankind" seem to resonate with Americans desperate to cling to something more tightly than their "Guns, God and Fear of Outsiders."
Labels: messiahs Obama Bush voters Romny arrogance humbling
posted by travellinguist @ 8:15 AM
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