Obama, "The Messiah", "the Great One", "The Perfect Leader", and so on

Great Debates
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I’m not sure Great Debates is the right forum for this; it might even have a General Question-ish answer, or belong in IMHO. If it needs to be moved, so be it.

But yes. It’s been very common, here and elsewhere, since before the election, for conservatives to mock Democrats and their support of Obama, by referencing their supposed blind, unwavering, pedastal worship of him. Mockingly calling him things like “The Messiah”, as if it’s common for Democrats to think of him that way. A current thread in the pit is called “Awwwww… The Great One failed to deliver for his Chicago cronies”. And so on.

Now, I’m a Democrat, and pretty liberal. I voted for Obama. I have a few conservative friends, but most of the people I know are at least somewhat liberal as well. I work in an industry that is known for being extremely liberal. I get my news mainly from left-leaning sources and websites (although I do try not to limit it to that). I read the SDMB, obviously, which we all know leans rather liberal. My point is, I’m around Democrats and hear Democrat-centric news A LOT.

But here’s the thing… I’ve never actually heard anyone, in all seriousness, prop Obama up the way we’re made fun of for. I’ve never heard anyone, in person, on the news, or online, refer to Obama, literally or figuratively, as being a Messiah, as being infallible, or perfect in any way. Many were excited and hopeful before the election, sure, and remain supportive now, but treating him as if he’s anything more than a person we trust and believe in? I’m not hearing it. Not now, not before the election, never. The ONLY time I ever hear Obama referred to in this way, is when it’s someone making fun of us for supposedly doing so.

Oh, I’m sure there’s loons out there who really do believe Obama is, literally, The Messiah. But a mainstream thought that he is anything but a good politician who shares many of the ideologies and politics we support? I’m just not seeing it.

So where did this come from? What is the thought process behind those who do it? Do they ever stop and think that they’ve never actually heard a real Democrat actually refer to Obama in these terms? And, if you actually have heard a mainstream treatment of Obama as if he’s perfect and infallible… and seriously, not just merely supporting him, but literally saying that he can do absolutely no wrong, because that’s what we’re supposedly doing… I’d be interested in seeing it.

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I think the people who say that are partly tongue in cheek about it, but they’re responding to comments like Chris Matthews’ statement that, when he heard an Obama speech, “I felt this thrill going up my leg.”, or Andrew Sullivan’s talking about how he supported Obama, saying “Obama’s candidacy in this sense is a potentially transformational one” and that:

or that when Bill Richardson endorsed him, he said that Obama would be"the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America’s moral leadership in the world."

There was just a lot of really overblown rhetoric during the campaign from Obama’s supporters about how wonderful Obama’s candidacy was and how important voting for him was, and it’s that overblown praise of Obama that his opponents are criticizing when they call him the messiah

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/06/06/notes060608.DTL

4

The right wing always, always projects its own failings onto the rest of the world and is quick to cry foul when they suspect any non tribe member of doing what they would’ve done. They’re authoritarians mostly, so when they see a strong leader who’s not one of theirs, they assume that leader holds unquestioned authority among his “followers.”

The less dim among them do this projection more or less consciously, and apply their favorite tu qoque argument to portray a moral equivalency with their opponents, thereby justifying their own behavior and tarring their enemies at the same time. Call it ethical jiujitsu. But most wingnuts are just so lacking in empathy and so immersed in an “us” versus “them” mentality they don’t even consider the possibility that any other ethos could differ from theirs in any way except “opposed.”

So I think that when they look at liberals and Obama, what they see isn’t what’s actually said and done, it’s a mirror image of themselves. Except with horns, I guess.

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Just respond, “He’s not the messiah, he’s our Reagan.”

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Well, that pretty much means he’s our Messiah; that’s how the Right looks at Reagan.

Obama’s not our Reagan nor is he our Messiah; at most, he’s the feeling you get after you stop hitting yourself with a hammer.

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I find it rather ironic that the right would liken the left’s support for Obama to religious devotion, when many Republicans saw Bush as being on a mission from above.

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I’ve personally encountered Obama supporters who declared that he would finally lead the USA into greatness, or even that he was “the only real President in over a century.” These remarks came before the guy was even sworn into office.

So yeah, it does seem to me that there was a lot of overblown rhetoric and adulation toward the guy. You even had commemorative plates and coins being hawked before he took office – and don’t tell me that they were being sold without any market for them.

I do appreciate the words of one Obama supporter, though. He loved the President, but he was also quick to point out that all this honor and praise could readily backfire if the man doesn’t do a good job. All those commemorative plates and coins will become symbols of disgrace if he ever winds up dishonoring the office.

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May Obama forgive them, they know not what they do. No, seriously, they haven’t a clue!

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I’m gonna have to remember that one, that’s a good riposte.

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Shit, Obama’s written more books than Reagan ever read.

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I just find it funny in that it’s like the right is saying, "see? He ISN’T the messiah"and somehow that is supposed to translate into, “He is horrible!”.

Are there, were there folks who would get carried away? Of course, but I mean when Satan was (vice-)president for 8 years, it might be natural for folks to think that the one to right all his evil would be the mesiiah.

Anyway, how do you know he isn’t the messiah? I mean, couldn’t these so-called “failures” actually be a test of our faith? I wonder if that is something Pascal would bet on?

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He’s not the Messiah! He is a very naughty boy! Oh, wait, that’s Clinton.

Obama is hardly my idea of a perfect president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is my idea of a near perfect president. Grizzled Republicans still can’t say his name without bursting into flames. Is Obama the second coming of FDR? Not hardly.

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You know, Reagan did write an autobiography, and they’ve also published his speeches, his radio program, his letters, and his diary. Reagan wasn’t an idiot, believe it or not.

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Hell, Bush thought he was on a mission from God.

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Reagan certainly had speechwriters write most of his speeches for him. I would be very surprised if most of “Reagan’s” writing if not all of it was ghostwritten, including the autobiography.

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  • Lucy Howard
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Who’s Lucy Howard, again?

And as far as the ghostwriting, the speeches were ghostwritten, and so, no doubt, was the autobiography. But the diaries and the letters weren’t, and Reagan wrote his radio program, himself.

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Who cares? It’s a funny line, Cap.
Also, here’s what Oprah said:

I may be wrong here, please correct me if so, but I would interpret that second sentence to mean that "I know [Barack Obama] is the one [president who can bring us all together].

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The RW does not necessarily regard that as a virtue.