Following the ascension of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States - a certain piece of doggerel from Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah came to mind:
Here lies a toppled god -
His fall was not a small one.
We did but build his pedestal,
A narrow and a tall one.
- Tleilaxu epigram.
Let us see how well in maintains his popularity now he has to make good on the extraordinary expectations that he has aroused in his followers.
Yours Sincerely,
Mild Colonial Boy, Esq.
1 comments:
I'm not sure whether NPR (National Public Radio) reaches Australia, but if you ever get a chance to listen, hold on to your hat -- because it's all Obama, all the time. Every facet of the man has to be examined and commented on, happily and with adulation. It was bad before, when he was just the Democratic candidate, but now that he is our Dear Leader -- sorry, I mean President -- things are out of control here in the U.S. I couldn't even bear to watch election night coverage on TV. My husband said that a prominent news anchor [I think it was either Tom Brokaw or Brian Williams] got teary-eyed on the air after hearing that Obama had won.
I, too, wonder whether the glow will diminish when it will dawn on his followers that he can't deliver on all his promises. But this is what I fear - that his acolytes see no wrong in the man, and when Obama becomes the focus of controversy over his policies, they will attack his critics and charge them with racism when questions are raised. In short, I think that serious criticism of Obama's policies will be out of bounds because he is black. Minority [especially black] voters have their identities invested in Obama, and liberal whites are in thrall as well.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I predict that reporters, as well as politicians, political scientists, economists, and even newspaper cartoonists, will be reluctant to criticize or poke fun at Obama for fear of being called racist.
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