2008-08-04
The more I observe the great illusionist Barack Obama, the more I am convinced that if he is able to dupe enough voters into putting him in charge it will be the most entertaining presidency in the history of the office. Is there really any sane person who believes this guy would make a good president?
Forget for a moment the people with whom he associates. Look past the bomber, mad preacher, angry wife and crooked slumlord. They are merely distractions. Forget the lack of experience or substantive legislation during his short stint in the Senate. Just focus on his current actions.
One would think when millions of Americans campaign for and contribute to a virtually unknown commodity like Obama, it would create within the candidate a sense of awe: A humility that would overwhelm the average person, an outpouring of love and support which might bring a mere mortal to tears, a heart so filled with gratitude the candidate would thank the American people for the vote of confidence.
Not Obama – quite the opposite.
When he takes the stage, there is an air of arrogance I have never sensed from anyone else in a similar situation. There is a tone of pompousness and entitlement. One gets the sense that Obama feels he is doing his attendees a favor for allowing them in his presence. His body language screams, "I am better than you." His confidence is not quiet. His soaring rhetoric is accompanied by the dropping of the final syllable or vowel. His almost preacher-like twang is devoid of even the slightest shred of modesty.
He fills stadiums at the mere mention of his coming. He is the source of neurological shutdowns as women faint at his utterances. Words flow like the healing waters of Fatima to the parched plebes yearning for the one with the answer to all of their problems. His audiences whisper to one another, "He is the one."
But make no mistake about it. He is not the one. He is ever the illusionist.
All good magicians make their audience's eyes and minds play tricks on them. They can make them believe in something that does not exist outside of the imagination. They see a rabbit disappear or a woman sawed in half, but both are an illusion. And when the show is over, the audience leaves entertained, but the world they left for a few brief moments to enjoy the show remains just as it was.
And so it will be with the presidency of Barack Obama. It will be entertaining. He will have us believe the world is perfect now that he is here. He will tell us that there is no war or rumors of war. Starvation and disease will have ceased to exist. Every man and woman from every nation and tongue will appear to be living in perfect harmony, helping each other in perfect love.
But it will be an illusion. For the world is far more complex than Barack has come to understand in the few short years he has been on Earth. And since his election to the Senate, he has yet to perform even a hint of a miracle, no less the miracles he promises for all those who dare believe.
I rest rather well knowing that whether it is voting for mayor, congressman, senator, president or even American Idol contestants, Americans always get it right. They are not easily deceived. They know a trick when they see one. They can smell a phony a mile away. And while the illusionist assistants in the media are working overtime to convince America their man, Barack, can lead the country to a new world, they know better. Americans are far more intelligent than the media understands, and this November they are going to get a huge lesson on that intelligence.
America wants a leader with humility, honesty, integrity and experience, not smoke and mirrors. It wants a leader who has been tested by the fires of life – a leader who will not promise the world and deliver Hoboken, but one who will under-promise and over-deliver. America understands that the only free lunch in the world is found in the fantasy of socialist thinking. America wants a leader to tell the truth about where we are and what we have to do to get to where we want to be.
Many of the challenges we face as a nation have no easy fix. We can't just raise taxes and pay all the obligations that are on the way in the years to come. Properly inflating our tires and keeping our cars tuned are not the answer to the energy crunch. Sending a $1,000 check to every American and sending the bill to Exxon is not an energy policy. Printing money to bail out banks and stop foreclosures is not the answer to bad decisions.
Government is not the answer to our problems; government is the problem. The sooner an honest politician declares so and puts forth legislation to shrink government, the better off we will all be.
America has a lot of bad, but far more good. This is, and will always be, a great country because of the American people. Most are hardworking, honest, loyal and dedicated people who love their families, country and God. They know the future will not be easy but also realize greatness never comes easily. They just want a president who will tell the truth and work hard on their behalves to do what is right – not what is easy. "Easy-way-out" thinking is half the problem.
So if you have watched the great Obami's master illusion show and now fear that illusion could destroy your country ... relax. The media can claim him the president, but that doesn't make it so. As we get closer to November, expect to see Obama either grow in his arrogance and lose, or humble himself and still have a chance.
I am putting my money on his ego. Therefore, I rest comfortably knowing Barack will soon go back to the Senate where he can do little to no damage to the nation. America will elect a president with experience, backbone and the understanding that humility always trumps arrogance. He will not be perfect. But he understands the value of speaking softly and carrying a big stick.
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