Cult of Obama mesmerises the believers
ww...@yahoo.com
ABC News
February 07, 2008
And Obama Wept
by Jake Tapper
Inspiration is nice. But some folks seem to be getting out of hand.
It's as if Tom Daschle descended from on high saying, "Be not afraid;
for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all
the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of Chicago a
Savior, who is Barack the Democrat."
Obama supporter Kathleen Geier writes that she's "getting increasingly
weirded out by some of Obama's supporters. On listservs I'm on, some
people who should know better - hard-bitten, not-so-young cynics, even
- are gushing about Barack...
Describing various encounters with Obama supporters, she writes,
"Excuse me, but this sounds more like a cult than a political
campaign. The language used here is the language of evangelical
Christianity - the Obama volunteers speak of 'coming to Obama' in the
same way born-again Christians talk about 'coming to Jesus.'...So I
say, we should all get a grip, stop all this unseemly mooning over
Barack, see him and the political landscape he is a part of in a
cooler, clearer, and more realistic light, and get to work."
Joe Klein, writing at Time, notes "something just a wee bit creepy
about the mass messianism" he sees in Obama's Super Tuesday speech.
"We are the ones we've been waiting for," Obama said. "This time can
be different because this campaign for the presidency of the United
States of America is different. It's different not because of me. It's
different because of you."
Says Klein: "That is not just maddeningly vague but also disingenuous:
the campaign is entirely about Obama and his ability to inspire.
Rather than focusing on any specific issue or cause -- other than an
amorphous desire for change -- the message is becoming dangerously self-
referential. The Obama campaign all too often is about how wonderful
the Obama campaign is. "
The always interesting James Wolcott writes that "(p)erhaps it's my
atheism at work but I found myself increasingly wary of and resistant
to the salvational fervor of the Obama campaign, the idealistic zeal
divorced from any particular policy or cause and chariot-driven by
pure euphoria. I can picture President Hillary in the White House
dealing with a recalcitrant Republican faction; I can't picture
President Obama in the same role because his summons to history and
call to hope seems to transcend legislative maneuvers and horse-
trading; his charisma is on a more ethereal plane, and I don't look to
politics for transcendence and self-certification."
Then there's MSNBC's Chris Matthews who tells Felix Gillette in the
New York Observer, "I've been following politics since I was about 5.
I've never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy.
[Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New
Testament."
And behold, Obama met them and greeted them. And they came up and took
hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
The Holy Season of Lent is upon us. Can Obama worshippers try to give
up their Helter-Skelter cult-ish qualities for a few weeks?
At least until Easter, or the Pennsylvania primary, whichever comes
first...
- jpt
UPDATE: Let me be clear: I'm not saying there shouldn't be enthusiasm
in politics. I'm merely touching on the fact that some Obama
supporters' exhuberance seems to be getting a little out of hand.
Obama himself joked about this at a Hollywood fundraiser, as noted in
Men's Vogue:
"When Morgan Freeman comes over to greet Obama, the senator begins
bowing down both hands in worship. 'This guy was president before I
was,' says Obama, referring to Freeman's turn in Deep Impact and,
clearly, getting a little ahead of his own bio. Next, a nod to Bruce
Almighty: 'This guy was God before I was.'"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/barackobama/story/0,,2236804,00.html
Guardian Unlimited
January 7, 2008
Cult of Obama mesmerises the believers
Suzanne Goldenberg in Derry, New Hampshire
Barack Obama is nearly two hours late when he takes the stage, flashes
that smile, and says in that instantly recognisable baritone: "Good
afternoon, believers."
And they do believe: teenage girls pressing against the crowd control
barricades to take pictures with their cellphones; middle couples
carrying copies of Obama's memoir for signing; fathers with children
perched on their shoulders, getting an early lesson in politics.
Everybody wants to say they have seen Obama - up close, in the flesh -
before New Hampshire holds its primary tomorrow. It's hard to define
exactly what his supporters believe in when they see Obama, but this
much is indisputable: they do believe.
"Something is in the air in New Hampshire. Something is going on,"
Obama began and the crowd roared.
Behind the bleachers, David Axelrod, the man who helped make it all
happen, looks almost ready to be swept away himself.
Axelrod, a political activist from Obama's hometown of Chicago, has
been working with the Senator for 15 years. With his slightly hangdog
expression, and rumpled jeans and pullover sweaters, Obama's chief
strategist has been the anxious presence at the back of the room at
hundreds of rallies. But with new polls showing the further collapse
of support for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, Axelrod is willing to
suspend the consultant's caution.
"I think it would be arrogant and unwise to say nothing can be turned
around," he begins - but he can't help himself. "I just think there is
something larger going on in the country," he said.
"I don't think we have seen this in a generation. Idealism has been
very much dormant in our politics for a long time. It's been beaten
out of us. Regardless of what happens in this campaign the
regeneration of a sense of possibility is a very valuable thing."
In truth, Obama does not have a monopoly on excitement in these
elections. It's impossible to drive anywhere without coming across
candidates' signs planted in the snowbanks that line the roads.
Clinton, though fighting for her political survival, can still attract
a crowd.
But Clinton stopped being the default Democrat on January 3. It's
Obama's turn now. In the Republican debate at the weekend, candidates
were asked to weigh their strengths against Obama as their Democratic
opponent - not Clinton.
Obama was the target of the Republican National Committee attack that
was emailed to party supporters this morning. "Obama is still the
presidential contender with a one-page resume," the email began.
Like Clinton, the Republicans seem to have miscalculated the right
line of attack to take against the Democratic frontrunner. Nobody is
talking about resumes when they are queueing to see Obama. Those
concerns might apply to conventional politicians, they say. Obama is
above all that.
"The Democratic field has a lot of intelligent hardworking people, and
a lot of Democrats are talking about experience. But experience also
carries a lot of baggage," said Paula Chessin, a school librarian who
queued for hours with her grown-up daughter to get into a theatre
where Obama was scheduled to speak.
"I think Obama brings something the people with experience don't bring
- and that is the need to move on," she said.
The volunteers who have turned up at Obama's campaign headquarters in
Manchester for this final push seem infused with that sense of
mission.
"There's a certain bigness that Obama has," says Patrick Hidalgo, 28,
a graduate student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government who
describes himself as a policy wonk.
Hidalgo has been tracking Obama's career since 2004 when he made a by-
now famous speech to the Democratic convention. "The second I saw him
I thought to myself this is going to be one of our great leaders - the
Kennedy or Churchill of our generation," he said.
The campaign, which set up operations in New Hampshire last March,
says it has recruited 2,000 volunteers from across the state for the
final push before polling day. By tomorrow morning, volunteers will
have made some 2m telephone calls to potential voters - this, in a
state where 287,000 turned out to vote in the Democratic primary in
2004.
Hundreds of others have made their way here from other parts of the
country. Some say they are turning up because of hearing Obama's
victory speech on Thursday night.
"Ronald Reagan took 48 states. I don't think we have heard anything
like that for years, and now we are going to have Obama Republicans,"
said David Ian Lee, an actor from New York.
"There is something historically important happening. Right here and
right now."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill M
<ww...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:92d82659-1f9b-4cf2...@v46g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...
JTEM
> This sounds like a dishonest Hillary fan!
Really? Hillary was like my third choice, with Obama being
my fourth, and I've been saying pretty much the exact same
thing.
In another group I even expressed my concern that after
Obama takes the Whitehouse as lets us all down that
his "fans" will neither notice nor care.
They remind me of Bushbots.
Werewolfy
JTEM, vote for a WOMAN? Never. You love men too much for that. Been
caught in the toilets lately? Last time you got away with a fine. I
know you are worrying about this next court appearence...I'm re-
joicing that they will be finally imprisoning you. Faggot.
ath...@home.com
>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/and-obama-wept.html
>
>ABC News
>February 07, 2008
>
>And Obama Wept
>by Jake Tapper
>
>Inspiration is nice. But some folks seem to be getting out of hand.
>
>It's as if Tom Daschle descended from on high saying, "Be not afraid;
>for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all
>the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of Chicago a
>Savior, who is Barack the Democrat."
>
>Obama supporter Kathleen Geier writes that she's "getting increasingly
>weirded out by some of Obama's supporters. On listservs I'm on, some
>people who should know better - hard-bitten, not-so-young cynics, even
>- are gushing about Barack...
Nothing new here.
Just the usual leaders and bleaters.
atheist@home#1554
<snip>
Sanity's Little Helper
1fab68...@y5g2000hsf.googlegroups.com to alt.atheism on 08 Feb 2008:
He just doesn't fancy you, that's all, get over it.
--
David Silverman D.B.E.
aa #2208
Lord Mayor of Dis
Lawful copyright holder of the term "Earthquack".
The monkeys are loose in the library again. They're gibbbering something
about "Answers In Genesis".