Posted by
ApolloSpeaks on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 11:06:55 AM
Authentically great men have no need for the symbols, imagery, style and legacies of other great men. True greatness is original, innovative, genuine and real and needs no models to imitate. Who did Lincoln imitate in his presidential campaign, or in the period leading up to his inauguration? Whose Bible did he use to swear him in as President? Who did the Roosevelts imitate and ape? Who was Kennedy's model? Who did Reagan emulate? Answer: No one. These men were among the great ones of history and walked in no one's shadow. Even George Bush as he rose to power drew strength from his principles, convictions and ideals, and little from his predecessors. But not Barack Obama. Never in the history of presidential politics, never in a campaign or in the pre-inaugural stage, had a candidate or President-elect relied so heavily on the great men of the past. Why has Obama been doing this? Is it simply out of reverence for these men? Is he paying homage to them? Is that the reason? Or is it because of his great deficiencies? Is it because he's a mediocre man with an exalted self-image and grandiose purpose with a dash of charisma and charm but without exceptional qualities of intellect and character that make great men? Does Obama confuse
the image of greatness and high flown rhetoric with the substance and reality?
Could it be that Obama suffers from an inferiority complex much like his wife? That like Michelle he has a poor self-image which he hides and conceals by echoing great Presidents, and especially the greatest of them all: Abraham Lincoln? I believe this is so. From the start of his campaign in Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln gave his house divided speech, to his swearing in on Lincoln's Bible; from his gigantic rally in West Berlin where JFK gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech to is acceptance speech at Denver on the anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream Speech," Obama uses these men and their legacies to sustain the charade and show of greatness as the substance and reality are lacking in him.
Indeed, why did Obama use Lincoln's Bible to swear him in as President? What was wrong with his own Bible? Why wasn't it good enough for him and the great occasion of his inaugural? Isn't his Bible the same Good Book with the same four Gospels and Book of Exodus, the same Old and New Testament with its timeless truths and wisdom? With its stories of Job and the crucifixion? Absolutely! But Obama is not Lincoln and using his own family Bible would do nothing for his image which is everything to him.
More important for Obama than the Judeo-Christian heritage, the traditions that brought the Pilgrim's to our shores and America into being and made us humanity's "last best hope," for political, religious and intellectual liberty is old Abe Lincoln, the greatest of our Presidents, the closest we have had to an ideal leader and saint. Never mind that Lincoln was a 19th century classical liberal who philosophically has nothing in common with Obama's statist views. Nevermind that Lincoln was a conviction politician who stood on principle with the courage to speak his beliefs. Never mind his honesty, transparency, integrity and capacity for self-sacrifice and truth. Nevermind his great valor and virtues. Nevermind that Obama has none of these things and that in truth he is the anti-Lincoln; his antithesis and polar opposite; his shadow in practically everything. What the midday Sun is to a midnight star so is Lincoln to Barack Obama; and those who see him as a blazing light, a new hope for a new age of justice, peace and freedom will soon be disappointed.
Obama is a man who has never come to terms with his human limitations, limitations that he disowns and runs away from-which explains his need to be a Lincoln, a Kennedy, an FDR or Dr. King, any great man is better than being Obama so it seems. As art is illusion imitating life so is Obama mediocrity, mental and moral midgetry, imitating greatness.
Obama has taken his pretense to greatness to absurd heights turning it into an object of worship with millions believing he's a hero for our times. With help from the media he's created an empty cult of personality that exaggerates his virtues and hides his fatal flaws; a cult that would chisel his face on Mt. Rushmore if they could; or build a memorial greater than Lincoln's. If Obama were to die today with having accomplished nothing the Congress would declare his birthday a holiday equal in importance to Independance Day. Such is the madness that surrounds this worthless man.
Sustaining his false image and veneer of greatness is what obsessed Obama in his pre-inaugural stage. Beyond that point is the great unknown and this truly worries him. Unlike Teddy Roosevelt who grabbed the presidency with both hands and said "Bully!" indicating his eagerness and courage to tackle the job Obama fears failure and leaving behind a legacy of dust. Two weeks before the election Obama was asked if he worried about losing to McCain: "No." replied the candidate, " It's not worrying about losing that keeps me up at night. What worries me and keeps me awake is the thought of winning." No great man who is fit to command would have said such a thing. As Obama in reality is unequal to the job he understandably fears failure. No great man fears the presidency or any tough job that he's called to. But not Obama, lacking the wisdom and character for the presidency, especially in troubled times, he understandably fears failure as it's unlikely he'll succeed.
As for today's inaugural speech it was typical Obama. The most memorable thing about his forgettable speeches are the crowds. The crowds are greater than the speeches and make the occasion. They also rescue Obama from his mediocrity making him for a moment seem larger than life. It's at these mega events that Obama really shines and feels most alive, most triumphant over his self-doubts, inferiority feelings and identity problems. This is less a problem of psychology than of morality and character. If Obama had a granite core of values and beliefs, like a Lincoln, Teddy, Roosevelt, Reagan or George Bush, he wouldn't feel so empty, small and incomplete. He'd have a rock solid soul stronger than fortune, fame and power.
You will notice that Obama's speech was joyless and deflating lacking passion, vigor and energy; that it was uneven and unsteady, rising and falling, ebbing and flowing with no stirring moment or grace. Indeed, the inexperienced man who blindly and impatiently ran for the presidency, who raised hopes sky high promising transformational change and world shaping leadership for a new age, has lost much of his flare now that he's president. Now that he sees the enormity of the task, the cross he bears, he fears it will crush him and that he will fail. The new President who spoke today isn't the victorious winner of November 4th who gushed with joy and inspiration at his Grant Park celebration. That Obama is fading soon to be overtaken by an incompetant leader leading the nation into confusion and his party to defeat.
Obama is a train wreck in the making whose first day in office will probably be his best. Once his government gets underway the mask of greatness will slip from his face revealing his weaknesses, faults and inadequacies. And the high expectations that he raised in millions, the tide of wild dreams that carried him to power, the misperception that he's destined for immortality will be shattered to pieces on the hard rock of reality and scattered like dust by the wind.