Whether he willed it or not, the media have turned him into a pop culture icon, and have taken their interest in his political planning and personal life way too far. Is it really necessary for the world to know what his girls are going to eat for lunch on their first day of school? Apparently MSNBC thinks so. Every single news report has at least one story about what he is doing, or has done in the past, what he thinks, what he says, what his wife is wearing, what kind of dog he'll buy, how much his old car sold for on Ebay... It's nauseating. And Hollywood is lording their victory over the evil Bush regime by using the phrase "Yes we can!" as much as possible. Give me a break.
Just now I read an article saying that the inauguration celebration in Washington is costing $150,000,000...four times more than any past president has spent. In the meantime, President Bush has declared a national financial emergency. I am relieved that most of that money is not coming from our tax dollars...but I still think it is arrogant to spend that much money on unnecessary pomp and circumstance when a lot of people are struggling to pay their bills. I have a hard time taking Obama's talks about fixing our economy seriously when his team is spending so much effort and money on his own personal glory. It's wasteful. That money could have been spent on so many other things!
The worst part of it all is that he is setting a dangerous precedent here. He has turned the election process into a commercial stunt and has permanently raised the bar for how much candidates will be expected to spend in the future. His presidency has already been hyped up so much that there is no way he can live up to expectations. His supporters - nay...his fans - have turned him into an icon. (These giant banners with his face on them kind of hearken to the days of communist propaganda and it creeps me out...) He is the hero who has risen out of the minority and will bring the change we so desperately need... But what they fail to realize is that he is a man, and therefore is as susceptible to making mistakes as anybody else. And no matter how many great ideas he may have, he has to work with a lot of other strongly opinionated men and women, and go through a lot of red tape, before he can accomplish anything. So while he may indeed succeed in making some changes in his first term in office, nothing is really going to change in the next couple of months. And woe be to poor President (elect) Obama when all the news reporters and magazines and supporters change their tune - as they have for so many other celebrities - and express their bitter disappointment in his performance.
I just hope that after these "TWO MORE DAYS" are over and he is finally inaugurated that all of this extravagant publicity will die down and we can go back to having a respectable government again. Right now I feel like Obama will be taking his oath of office at a star-studded award show...hardly a humble way to make this commitment. I sincerely hope and pray that he will be able to rise above all of the hype, not let it go to his head, and make good on his many promises.
1 comment:
I agree and also disagree. Such is human nature! First, I understand your title: Rant. We all need to do this every-now-and-then, otherwise I am sure that we will have major emotional meltdowns.
Okay....
The media coverage regarding Obama has been very ridiculous. I agree. However, I place the blame solely with the media. Yes, Obama will be the first black President. That is history and news enough. Yet, the media will cover whatever they want to and do whatever they have to so that they have a bigger and better story. News reports and political pundits have become less informative and factual and more entertaining and exaggerated. This needs reform and refocus.
I also was very weary of the price tag for this ceremony. I thought for sure that there was no way that it could really be costing that much more than last time! I did a little research myself. Here are two contrasting articles that I found pretty interesting:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/16/news/economy/inauguration_costs/
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200901170003
Bottom line, no one seems to have a clear idea of the cost! It is baffling and it seems that DC has become very decadent and spoiled. At least hard working Americans will be employed to make this extravagant event go smoothly. I am hopeful, however, to see the Obama administration use the second half of the economic bailout money in a proper way that makes sense. I don't know who oversaw the use of the other half, but giving it to the banks that failed seemed like a poor choice. I hear that the Obama administration is planning on addressing the housing/foreclosure issues. Eh, we shall have to hope for the best!
As for the supporters, or rather, fans -- I agree. That is what put me off at first. I refused to jump on the bandwagon and buy into all the Obama-hype. I ended up supporting him, but never clicked well with dedicated Obama campaign workers. While they were spending hours calling homes that had been called many times before to push their product (Obama), I was taking training courses to prepare for the Low-Income Energy Audits that I have been doing since November. Honestly, the "fans" scare me a little and I just wish that they could prove to me that they support Obama more for his policies and such. He has brought hope and inspiration, which are great things to jump-start movements. But those movements (energy, national service, healthcare, etc.) will dioe if they do not get serious and get organized. Hope will not accomplish everything that we need to. I do like what Obama is doing with his massive support network: he has turned its focus towards national service. The campaign network will be used to organize and mobilize national service projects. Very cool!
Sadly, American politics has become a circus in recent years. It is very unfortunate and the American citizens suffer. The bar for campaigns and terms of office has been continuously set higher and higher. We must remember that this is a very big job for one man - always has been. The people choose him (or her someday!) and he must live up to everyone's expectations. This is impossible - Bush did the best he could and now Obama will do his best. I agree that things will die down after the inauguration, but it will be far from a respectable government for quite some time.
Sorry if I rambled! Just wanted to share my thoughts on this. Hope things are well! Miss ya guys!
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