For years I’ve thought American patriotism was over the top. A lot of us saw it as a character defect. A lot of it appeared to be right wing idiocy. A lot of it aroused the phrase “Thou doth protest too much”
But what I’ve seen over the past year is a rising crescendo of American nationalism, the present moment a prolonged orgasm.
Obama’s favourable rating is now 80%. That has to include a lot of conservatives who voted McCain. Nothing has changed much since the election, and Obama’s message hasn’t changed at all.
What that 80% figure represents has nothing to do with expections for the number one election issue. It has everything to do with national pride.
I presume the reasons are as follows.
The embarrassment of slavery and racism in America has been overcome. Americans do take satisfaction when hearing Europeans expressing amazement at the accomplishment.
The past year has shown how a people can effectively work a democracy. It was hard fought, making the excercise all the more rewarding.
Americans want to have the leadership role in the world. Now they expect this leadership will be appreciated and excercised effectively.
Its been a long time since Americans actually felt good about themselves.
And most of all, it looks like Americans can find a common ground amongst themselves.
There’s probably more.
Hey, I like what I see. My hopes for humanity have risen significantly. Obama gets all the credit for this,as he deserves, but it will be up to Americans to realize the hopes and dreams unleashed.
The humanist in me says it’s high time we had a breath of fresh air in the leadership and the culture, that we badly need to become a kinder, gentler, more idealistic and communitarian society.
The Nietzschean in me says we’re going to screw it up because it is all still about power and money, indeed, that we had better screw it up if we don’t want to end up a sad, broke, and ruined nation.
The factors you mention are only peripherally involved. The main reason Obama has such a high rating is that he is projecting hope and calm at a time when people are nervous about the future.
I don’t quite understand the hostility the OP is getting. Hey, a Canadian is actually saying something positive about the US – I’ll take it while I can get it.
This. I don’t know if we’re laboring under the spectre of slavery/racism or not. My fam didn’t arrive here till after the US Civil War, for instance. And I don’t know how much is relief that W won’t be in office, at least.
I appreciate your kind words, Flying Dutchman. I think they were kindly meant.
Though I would apply qualifiers to your sentence quoted above. Electing a black President doesn’t wipe out slavery and racism, unfortunately. I do think it shows we’ve come far enough that a very bright, dedicated man could be elected no matter the color of his skin. Barack Obama isn’t an apology. He was elected President because he’s damned smart, savvy, reasoned and open to other points of view. Oh yeah, and not prone to shit on the Constitution. He earned all those votes–and happens to be black.
Though I will cop to a real zing of pride that so many Americans transcended the rampant lies, hatefulness and xenophobia of the election (and the past 8 years) and still swept into the highest office a man whose middle name is Hussein.
Given the approval rating of 80%, doesn’t that just mean that America is getting carried away on the Obama mania which will inevitably be doomed to disappointment? From the outside it seems as if the obsession with the Presidency is almost cult-like and going way beyond reality. I can’t see how this will end well considering that the President is just a person like anyone else, and worse still, he’s just a politician and they should all be viewed with a healthy distrust.
We need to feel hopeful about our future. We need to feel inspired to take part in the transformation of our government and our nation. He’s genuine in his desire to work hard and do things the way the last guy didn’t. I don’t think he’s ‘just a politician.’ I think he’s a public servant through and through. The two concepts should not be confused. I don’t think anyone thinks there’s a magic wand that will fix things overnight just because he’s president. I believe that together we will start to turn it around because we have a true leader in the White House who has a better grasp on the intangibles of our society than Bush could ever hope to have.
It’s a nice thought, but I don’t understand why suddenly all of the hatred and fear-mongering over the past 8 years would suddenly dissipate - afterall, the people who fostered all of those feelings are still there and many McCain/Palin supporters demonstrated that. Plus the same people are still in power, sure the White House is dramatically changing but the rest of the power structures are in the same hands. Why would it change now? Or does the office of the President have more power than I’m aware of?
It’s called hope. The promise of more transparency and accountability is something to look forward to. We’re on the brink and the old way of doing business no longer gets a pass.
Well, I’m still disgusted when I realize how close the election vote actually was. There are still so many ignorant demagogues and fundies making progress a painful task.
Thank you The Flying Dutchman, I appreciate your take on it. I do think that for many Americans we can take pride in the fact that the centuries of racism in this country have been overcome enough that Barack Hussein Obama was elected.
I do think our Patriotism is a two edged sword. At times it can be frightening but it is always a sign of willingness to rally together. We take inordinate pride in our country but what is also often overlooked is even in our pride we still exercise and are proud of our right to protest and criticize and hold different opinions. My hope is Obama does succeed in bringing the country back together. We have become very divisive it seems and he recognizes this and is trying to address it. I know he is already ruffling some feathers and disappointing some but bringing America back together is something he seems very capable of doing and one of the reasons I liked him as a candidate so much.
