Quixote has a post up which enunciates well one of my biggest frustrations with the Obama cult of personality: the way it makes right-wing political positions suddenly acceptable to previously liberal people. It’s the “I trust Barack” phenomenon, which you can observe in full bloom on the various Obamabot blogs whenever The Precious endorses some grotesquerie (liquid coal! faith-based initiatives! government spying!). As Quixote says:
…I think Obama could do more damage to the country than McCain. People pretty much know what McCain stands for and whether they’re for it or against it. Good-looking governors make it a warmer ticket, but don’t change the fundamental equation. Obama, on the other hand, does one thing, says another, and enough people are so desperate to believe in him that they lie to themselves so that they can keep doing it. Look at the reaction on the left when he started promoting faith-based government. Suddenly the left, the left, was trying to find reasons why it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. The ability to make people believe night was day was Reagan’s talent. He succeeded in making selfishness respectable, and then even admirable. He could make people forget which way was up. It’s very hard to climb out of a morass if you can’t even see that.
Obama, judging by the evidence so far, has the same talent. Based on what he’s done rather than what he’s said, he’s a Republican. Maybe Republican-lite, but that’s not the important part. What scares me is the large majority who, a year ago, finally understood that they don’t want that crap. But he can make them think they do.
Posted by Violet in Election 2008
