This column from the Times of London show’s the absurdity of the way the press has treated Obama. He’s the Messiah don’t you know.
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”
In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.
Is this the new Obama Logo? By this sign he shall conquer?
joets says
david says
Compare this lame-ass column — stick in a few “And it came to pass”es and “yea verily”s, and hey presto, instant hilarious biblical satire! — to Jon Stewart’s truly funny depiction of Obama as a mythical slayer of multi-headed monsters to learn how political satire is really done.
huh says
It’s asily one of the lamest thing’s Eabo’s ever posted and that’s no easy task.
laurel says
since mccain can’t get the trust of the religious right, but obama has that appeal.
tblade says
…that Obama can get a crowd of 200,000 and get people waving the American Flag openly and proudly while many loudly chant USA! USA! in a foreign country.
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p>Who else could do that? Obama wasn’t born a virgin, but rational people can’t deny that is impressive feat which few else, if any one, could pull off.
laurel says
have shown me that europeans so want to be united in spirit with the usa again, but it will not happen with a bush clone in the white house. i’m not sure how much of the crowd in berlin was really there for obama per se, or just there in relief that there is a viable american candidate who represents a firm departure from the axis of bush-cheney. some of both, i suspect.
kbusch says
I really found it extremely moving to see Europeans happily and eagerly waving American flags. In 2004, I’d begun to fear we’d never get to see that again. The pictures on this diary stir one’s patriotism.
laurel says
that diary was interesting until you get to the bottom, where there are pictures of the us hockey team beating ussr. must it always come down to beating others? after such an uplifting set of photos from berlin from a guy who talks about unity and cooperation, i found that nationalistic post script quite depressing.
lightiris says
and expressed that feeling in a comment on that diary, too.
mr-lynne says
… this overplayed GOP meme of the cult and the messiah is becoming really really stupid. As dday said yesterday:
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p>And as Digby said yesterday:
It should also be noted that although this is the London Times, the writer is the United States editor. So rather than put forth anything substantive about the candidate’s Europe visit, or even noting how Europeans are experiencing the candidate’s visit, he propagates a GOP meme in typical Washington media village “defend-ourselves-from-the-‘liberal-media’-label-by-adopting-GOP-talking points’ fashion.
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p>Granted, he’s funny when he does it, but in doing it he severely disappoints.
huh says
As David notes, it’s just recycled tripe. It’s kinda sad that folks who should know better are paying attention.
kbusch says
While Obama has been visiting world leaders, John McCain staged a trip to a grocery store to talk about prices. After someone spilled some apple sauce in the aisle and the store’s PA system interrupted the careful attention the Senator was getting from the media, Mr McCain turned his attention to Renee Gould, a young mother who just happened to be there.
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p>Well, it turns out her “just happening to be there” was the result of her being handpicked by the local Republican Party.
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p>So here we have a remarkably inauthentic, made-up event.
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p>Not to worry. This is still good for John McCain, maverickiest maverick ever and world’s most Authentic Politician. Be not troubled, John McCain, Newsweek has your back:
You see John McCain’s discomfort is evidence of his underlying goodness!
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p>This is not the first time that John McCain’s discomfort has been recognized as a sign of his shining virtue.
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p>Do you remember the Confederate flag issue? At first, as befits a maverick, Mr. McCain condemned the flying of the stars and bars, but that position quickly provided politically unfeasible. So he dealt with it by retracting his position.
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p>Now for a normal politician (for example, a Democrat) that would be pandering plain and simple. Not for John McCain! Why he was uncomfortable!
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p>When asked about it, he would pause, ostentatiously pull a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfold it, and carefully read — uncomfortably of course! — a statement on his new found respect for state’s rights. He was asked this many times and no doubt could have recited the contents of the well-worn scrap, but the theater was part of the message.
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p>Everyone knew he was pandering, but, when Mr McCain does it, we’re all supposed to believe his heart is not really into it. He’s so, so — “authentic”. He’s just pretending to be a politician.
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p>But if he keeps pulling off staged discomfort does it still count as discomfort?
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p>(H/t Atrios)
laurel says
was that it was indeed planned, and yet still was a total disaster. if he can’t pull off a photo op in the juice isle with plenty of lead time to plan, how is he ever going to deal with real problems that present themselves unexpectedly?
johnt001 says
…should have been noticed by his campaign staff – rather odd to see such a stark reminder of the last failed Republican presidential candidate just over McCain’s shoulder – will he be shilling for Pepsi and Viagra at this time next year?
eaboclipper says
because you don’t buy into the Obama as Messiah thought. Have you seen the rallies, the level of support for Obama is not healthy in a democracy. It is blind support for a guy that talks good. I think if you ask 85% of Obama supporters what he stands for, they wouldn’t know. You are all blinded by the light so to speak.
kbusch says
Matt Stoller put up an excellent essay Why It’s Important to Note That Obama is Not Liberal or Progressive echoing a point the lolorb recently made. I enter this fully aware of Obama’s limitations.
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p>McCain is very happy of the fact that he is running ahead of the Generic Republican. You’ve seen that polling. That indicates to me that your point cuts both ways: not many voters know just how generically Republican McCain is.
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p>Should I pass in silence over the irony of being lectured by a supporter of President Bush of being “blinded by the light”?
tblade says
“The intelligence was faulty; there were no lies!”
“Valarie Plame was not covert!”
“The surge is working!” (and I’m not talking about now, I’m talking about 3 months after the surge was deployed)
“We’re fighting in Iraq so we don’t have to fight them here!”
“The US does not torture!”
“You can’t criticize a sitting commander in chief!”
“They hate us for our freedom!”
“You’re just one of the ‘blame America first’ crowd!”
“If we don’t go shopping, then the terrorists have won!”
“Why do the Democrats (Defeat-o-crats) want America to lose this war?”
“There was no wrongdoing in the Justice Department firings – every president fires US attorneys!”
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p>Let’s not even get into McClelan’s admission that the White House used Fox News (shocking) to disseminate official administration talking points disguised as independent analysis. What does that say about the blind support given by a “news” organization and the people who watch Fox News?
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bob-neer says
As evidenced by his flagrant disrespect for such basic democratic issues as being honest with the people (the “demos”) about the reasons to go to war with Iraq, respect for habeas corpus, and not using the Department of Justice to prosecute political opponents.
tblade says
…compared with Obama supporters.
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p>Some people still walk around thinking that John McCain’s plan calls for lower income taxes, when it is shown that 85% of Americans would take home more money under Obama’s plan.
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p>Obama’s better on taxes than McCain. Most Americans think that the current Republican admisnistration has lead American down the wrong track. 60% of Americans want a timetable for withdrawal. McCain has shifted towards Obama’s position on Afghanistan. The President of Iraq and the Iraqi people favor Obama’s plan for withdrawal in Iraq far more than McCain’s vision. McCain says he doesn’t “understand economics”.
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p>Perhaps some people actually think Obama is better suited for the job? Perhaps the GOP candidate is just a stiff? Perhaps a good portion of the population is so fed up with the utter bullshit visited upon us by the current corrupt GOP administration that any breath of fresh air looks Messianic in comparison?
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p>Perhaps we do feel a sense of relief when we find a candidate that knows that adverbs, not adjectives, modify verbs, and we want a President who “speaks well” instead of one that “talks good”?
sabutai says
Other people with “unhealthy levels of support” per EaBo:
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p>Nelson Mandela
Franklin Roosevelt
Martin Luther King, Jr.
the Dalai Lama
Ronald Reagan
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p>Anything over 55% is suspicious, doncha know.
eaboclipper says
strong support and blind devotion. The Obamaites are delving into blind devotion. Obama is a pop culture phenomenon like the pet rock.
tblade says
Pop culture like “Bedtime for Bonzo”?
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p>Like Nancy Reagan appearing on “Diff’rent Strokes”?
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p>Pop culture like the classic video sponsored by Ronald Reagan called “Stop the Madness” in which Nancy appears with such heavies as Whitney Houston, David Hasselhoff, Tootie from “Facts of Life”, Latoya Jackson, and Kareem Abdul Jabar?
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p>Pop culture like every right-wing site constantly advertiinge hip Ronald Reagan t-shirts?
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p>Ronald Reagan can not be any more pop culture in Republican circles. Reagan iconography has long been pervasive and demanded cultish devotion long before Obama followers were criticized for Messianic delusions. A Reaganite criticizing Obama supporters for blind devotion is like the Jim Jones looking down at Scientologists for believing in Galactic Lord Xenu.
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p>Face it, Eabo. You guys have been waiting for the Second Coming of Reagan (see: every Repub Primary debate, especially McCain and Romney) far longer than the left has been waiting to throw Palsm at Obama’s feet while he rides into Washington on a donkey.
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huh says
Not only has the GOP held the oval office for the last 8 years, at one point they controlled all three legislative branches. There was a time when they could blame everything wrong with America on Clinton and the Democrats and assign credit for everything good to Reagan.
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p>Faced with a base that won’t admit their policies have failed and (worse) accuses their candidate of being being a RINO because he (gasp) cooperated with the hated opposition, what choice do they have?
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p>It’s not like they have much in the way of successes to point to….
huh says
“We got nothing.”