Rex Murphy’s piece in the Globe and Mail about why Time Magazine passed Obama over for person of the year is a good critique of Obama’s presidency, and definitely worth a read. One line in particular got my ire up.
The great “cool” of Mr. Obama – essentially all those qualities that marked him as the non-George Bush, the anti-George Bush – is wearing a little thin now that Mr. Bush is really no longer a figure in play.
This is what we’ve become. Electing presidents based on the coolness factor. It can even be said of Bill Clinton - remember when he played the sax and the media went nuts? But Bill Clinton wasn’t cool, (come on, look at his hair) he was another politician who the media liked. But at least he had the good sense to tack to the center when things weren’t going his way. Not so for Obama.
Anyone over the age of thirty probably doesn’t look back on their childhood and pine for cooler parents. We did when we were teenagers - at least I did. Not that my parents aren’t cool, but I certainly didn’t think they were when I was a kid. They didn’t let me get away with anything. When I screwed up - which I did on numerous occasions - they insisted that I bear responsibility for my actions. That’s a parent’s job – raising children to become independent, responsible adults.
It seems what happened with the election of Barack Obama is that Americans decided – wittingly or unwittingly – that he would somehow bail them out of their, or someone else’s, screw ups. Come on, did people really believe all the hype about this guy? Did they really believe he would save them from themselves? Apparently they did. And now they’re disappointed that he can’t deliver. Not that he isn’t trying, to the detriment of our children. He spent so much time crafting his image, I guess there was no time left to prepare for the job he was elected to do.
It’s time for Americans to grow up. Like a parent, a president’s job has nothing to do with being cool, and everything to do with being competent. There’s no guarantee life will be easy, no matter who your parents are, and no matter who is the president. There is no utopia. Life can be difficult. The only thing parents can do to make it a little easier is to prepare their children for the difficulties ahead. The only thing presidents should do is to keep the homeland safe so those children can realize their potential.
Instead, we have a president (and a democratic party) that wants to increase the number of Americans who are dependent upon the State. There’s no hope there. There’s no realization of one’s potential. It leads to poverty and misery; everywhere it’s been tried it ends up the same.
It’s time to face reality. We’ve been endowed with the greatest amount of freedom on this planet. That’s why this little experiment in personal liberty became the world’s superpower. What’s it going to take to make people understand that their freedom isn’t to be taken lightly? As history has shown, once freedom is gone it’s really hard to get back.
Via memeorandum
Sadly, “Star Power” is more important than core principles.
Thank Hollywood, Higher Academia and the NEA.
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