Obama: Messiah Complex

(Picture credit: DoublePlusUndead)

It was interesting to see the reaction to Barack Obama's clinching of the Democratic presidential nomination. Supporters and media talking heads were practically gushing that this win was akin to the Second Coming of Christ, resulting in the resurgence of the "Messiah Complex" issue.

This cult of personality is dangerous. Adolph Hitler had a personality cult thing going for him when he rose to power in post-World War I Germany. We know how historically disasterous that turned out to be.

Before the flap over Rev. Wright's racist remarks, Obama had the press deeply in his pocket. One NBC reporter admitted that his legs tingled when hearing Obama speak. MSNBC's Chris Matthews swooned, "This is bigger than Kennedy. Obama comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the new testament." (Nothing like an impartial press, eh?) I never agreed much with Bill Clinton, but when he said that Obama was getting favored treatment by the press in comparison to what Hillary was receiving, I think he had a valid point. But after the Wright flap, many have found that there was not much in the way of substance behind the soaring rhetoric. Indeed, his resume is "as thin as piss on a rock." His remarks in San Francisco about Americans "clinging to their bibles and guns" also didn't sit well. This resulted in a comeback (albeit too late to do any real good) in the fortunes of Senator Hillary Clinton.

Obama's nomination victory speech declaring that the poor would be fed, provide jobs for the jobless and halt the rise of the oceans fed into this Messiah Complex charge. And this was said after he proclaimed that he was "humbled" over his victory. His comments certainly weren't very humble. They sounded more like he would be Moses parting the Red Sea.

This worries Paul Krugman of the New York Times. He observed that Obama's campaign is "dangerously close … [to] a cult of personality."

Supporters of Obama have also been called "disciples." Another biblical metaphor. There were reports of fainting "disciples" at Obama's rallies.

While Obama can deliver a good speech, but when he doesn't have his telepromptor in front of him, he is a terrible speaker. His senate rating shows him to be the most liberal U.S. Senator. I never thought anyone else could be more liberal than Ted Kennedy. His associations of the unrepentant former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Phleger and convicted felon Tony Rezko are especially troubling. Each time these people were exposed for what they are, Obama claimed each time that person "wasn't [that person] I knew." Does he really expect people to swallow that?! It definitely calls to question Obama's character. It may even expose him to be a liar without Bill Clinton's charm.

My main concern is that Obama has no real experience to qualify him to be president. He's no more qualified than my local sushi preparer! His only claim to fame is as a community organizer, a state senator and a freshman U.S. Senator with no accomplishments under his belt.

This will be an interesting campaign. Will the media's swoon over Obama pull him over the finish line in November? We shall see.