Hero Worship

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 was undoubtedly a historic day. Yet another peaceful transfer of power occurred in front of millions of people worldwide. We were able to say to the world yet again, that no matter how divisive our political system can be especially during an election season, we’re still able to do this part of it in a peaceful, respectful manner. Well, respectful for the most part, anyway, if you could ignore the juvenile ninnies that couldn’t resist booing President Bush one last time.

Not about to miss such an important piece of history being made during my time, I paid attention. While I couldn’t watch the inauguration, I listened in on the radio at work. I saw some of the nonstop coverage before I left that morning. I heard the stumble in the middle of the oath and thought to myself, “Oh thank God, he is human!” It truly was something remarkable to behold. So why was I left cold?

From the moment it was official that the presidential race was between Barack Obama and John McCain, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind who was going to be our next president. I often wondered why I felt that way. My list of qualities that I liked about Obama was his vitality, eloquence and class and his ability to motivate and inspire. Sorry, his skin color never once entered into it for me. So why is that the very thing that everyone seems to be focusing on?

Early on in his campaign against McCain, Obama cautioned his followers against those evil ‘republicans that want to play the race card.’ So why is it the only time I’ve heard something uttered about race, it’s come from the democrats? Yes, he is the first black man to be elected into the presidency, and it’s something for our country to celebrate, I won’t deny that. I saw the older people looking upon this day with pride and tears streaming down their faces as they remember our history and never thought they’d see this in their lifetime, and I get it; I was as proud as anyone else. But it just seemed to me, at least from the coverage I saw, like it was the sole focus for not all, but many.

The hero worship is a bit much. Even during the campaign, he was something akin to a rock star. He even had women fainting at his campaign speeches. The media coverage has just been way over the top on this thing. I don’t think any other news was reported on Tuesday on any of the ‘alphabet’ networks. They had to be at every inaugural ball and focused on everything, right down to what Michelle was wearing. What about the dog, haven’t they gotten the dog yet??? I’m sure that somewhere they reported on what they had for breakfast, too. Oh, and we can’t forget the celebrity interviews, because they know everything about everything when it comes to politics. But when I happened to hear Bill Weir of ABC exclaim that “even the seagulls flying overhead must be in awe,” I had about all I could take; it was past time to get some reading in, anyway.

So no, I did not vote for Obama. His stance on the issues and his policies did not and still do not sit well with me. However, I’m not going to turn my back, stomp my feet and declare like a sniveling democrat that “He’s not my president,” because my candidate didn’t win. He is my president, as much as George Bush was my president, and as much as (Lord help me) Bill Clinton was my president. I will support him and pray that he does the right thing, makes good decisions. If he does well, shouldn’t that mean we do well? I would hope so, anyway. If he makes decisions I don’t agree with, or that upset me, I will disagree and be vocal about it, because we’re still allowed to do that here. He’s already made some grand gestures in his first 4 days that have turned my stomach, but no, I’m not giving up my citizenship just yet. It takes more than that to make a conservative jump ship.

So what happens when folks discover that he really is a mere mortal, not a messiah? When he can’t necessarily follow through on all the change he promised? Well, they’re already making the concessions: “Well, he can only do so much,” “Oh, but look at all the problems he inherited.” Yeah, they’ll be blaming Bush for the next 50 years. It’s what they do.