On Tuesday, Barack Hussein Obama will take the oath of office and become our nation's 44th President. I have to admit I am still in a state of disbelief.
If you would have asked me one year ago that the man I wanted to be president more than just about anyone else on the political scene was actually going to win, I would've told you that you were nuts. In fact, I probably would've chalked the whole idea up to a pipe dream. There is no way that a country that elected George W. Bush twice would vote for a man like Barack Obama. The last eight years have produced an America that is a three headed monster...a monster that would never elect a man like our next president. It's just not possible, is it?
Before we take a look at how it happened let's take a look at what we have become in the last eight years. What are the three heads...exactly?
1. Hate. For all of our talk of loving thy neighbor, we sure have done an awful lot of hating in this country. Turn on any right wing radio dick and you will hear what I am talking about. They will tell you of the traitors in this country that continually plot to ruin our way of life. These traitors are...well...our next president and anyone else that supports him. They are the media. They are the teachers. They are you and they are I.
Of course, the irony is that they will also tell you that it is the LEFT that is full of hate but I think we can all see, after their convention in my home state of Minnesota, that they should take a look in the fucking mirror. There is no doubt that there is hate on the left. It's just not as prevalent and well organized as it is in the current incarnation of the Republican Party. Even President Bush is appalled by it which is ironic because he helped to create it.
2. Fear. The right does a great job with this one. My eight year old daughter has been told by fellow classmates, whose parents are conservative, that Barack Obama, after he becomes president, is going to give guns to babies so they can kill each other thus leading to infant genocide. I suppose it's possible that something was lost in the translation but I think you get my point.
Bush, Rove, Cheney and minions have been extremely successful in making many people in this country so hysterical with fear that they truly believe that Barack Obama is going to destroy them. Their propaganda has been so effective that I have had people tell me that I "best purchase" a gun to fight off the liberals that are going to take my family away from me and put them in camps. Three people told me this. I am not fucking kidding. And I thought the "liberals are fascists" argument was loony. The cheese is just flying off the cracker now.
3. Ignorance. This one is key. Destroy the credibility of the media and education (e.g. all commie liberal traitors), and you can get #1 and #2 with ease. An ignorant population is easier to control. If twenty percent of this country believe that the media and public education are doling out biased information, where are they going to turn? Either to the Republican Party's various information outlets or nowhere. More than likely it's the latter.
It's not just enough to get people to tune out or follow the party line. They have to be happy about it. Somewhere along the line it became cool to be a fucking moron. We like smart doctors, elite athletes, and business savvy CEOs but when it comes to our government-specifically our president-we want someone with whom we can have beer. Being smart is the absolute last thing many of us seem to want in president. I offer as evidence of this Governor Sarah Palin who has broad support amongst many conservatives.
So, folks on the right have done a great job of crafting this three headed monster in order to essentially gut this country as the mob would bust a joint out that it has taken over. Take a look around you. Know anyone that has lost a job recently? I bet you do. Where did all the money go? It's pretty obvious...the people who are on their way out the door. And funny thing...they don't really care. They got what they wanted from a bunch of hateful, fearful, and ignorant people who STILL believe in them. I have a friend who works in the mortgage industry who is just about destitute and will not, under any circumstances, admit any fault on the part of any conservative. It's all Barney Frank's fault!
So, how is it possible that through all of this we elected a man like Barack Obama? There's the crappy economy, the failed policies in the Middle East, and the shit stained image of the United States in the world...all things that I'm sure helped contribute to the victory. I say it's something else.
When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Tuesday morning, it will be because the good guys are finally starting to win. I want to be very VERY clear about this. The good guys are not just Democrats. They are Republicans and even far right conservatives. They are independents, socialists, communists, constitutionalists and everyone in between. The good guys are people exactly like our next president...people who have an infinite supply of intellectual and moral strength. People who are going to show those who have succumbed to the three headed monster the true meaning of patriotism.
And there were just enough of them to win an election.
I thought I would save Frost Nixon, the fifth of the five films to be nominated for this year's Academy Awards, for last. Why? Of all of the films nominated this year, Ron Howard's latest gem is the most congruent with the subject matter of this blog.
