The Obama Supporter and You or, How to Succeed at Voting Without Really Thinking

Casual readers of my little Vox space know that my default topic is politics.  I have a constant buzzing in my brain, an urge to hit up Drudge, NRO, the opinion section in my local paper, anywhere that politics might be.  At times I find myself talking about something with no memory of how I got on the subject.    It is something about me which I realize can be rude and off-putting when I’m in public.  I’ve been making a conscious effort the past few weeks to speak about politics less and less in public, and now less and less in the home.

It’s hard to kick any sort of habit.  My wife and I decided that we wouldn’t discuss politics at all this week, nor would we watch any political news.  I pledged that I wouldn’t even click on Drudge Report at all.

We kind of forgot it was the Democratic National Convention this week.  I have maintained my pledge, and we have both enjoyed the break from political discussion.  But I feel like I have to make some sort of comment on the festivities or risk losing a good opportunity to highlight Barack Obama’s utter incompetence.

Part of my frustration with my political inclination is the utter lack of progress that I make with Obama supporters.  Not all; there are the grudging supporters who are at least reasonable people, and there are the vindictive party-liners who are easy enough to understand.  But then there are the people who have bought into Obama’s narrative totally and completely.  They ignore an important lesson of American politics:  Every politician re-invents himself, his life and his career, and they try to sell it to you.

Barack Obama is no different.  To those with the desire to actually learn about him, .  His triumphal world tour fell slightly flat, and one senses that as of about three weeks ago he just wasn’t having fun anymore. 

Obama is, without a doubt in my mind, a typical Chicago politician.  He is typical in that to get ahead he made questionable associations, he is typical in that he employs a vast network of loyal supporters to quash any serious critique, and he is typical in that there is a subtle note of corruption beneath the pleasant whiffs of hope and change.  Why are libraries shutting down access to public files concerning Obama’s associations?  Happily, said files are now open.  See Kurtz, Stanley, for the ramifications.

Yet over and over and over, his critics are ignored.  Worse, their character is impugned and they are maligned as racists, fearmongers, thugs.  Yet the content of the critiques is no worse than any man, black or white, would or should face who wanted to be President of the United States.  We’re still the most powerful nation on Earth, shouldn’t we trust that our President knows how to get things done?

No experience?  No problem for Obama supporters.  Caught in a lie?  Still no problem, he was just tired.  Or, better, admit he lied and count on the media giving him a free pass.  Questionable associations?  Never deviate from the narrative, and if someone comes at you with facts, heap abuse upon them.  Ask Stanley Kurtz how that one goes.  Michelle Malkin already took care of the links.

The problem with Obama has always been that he has crafted a narrative that is obviously false to anyone who cares to investigate him, but his supporters are willfully blind to that fact.  So much so that they trumpet his wisdom even in the face of ridiculous public flubs.

In summary:  Barack Obama is sailing through his Convention with all the trappings of your typical demagogue, including his own plywood Greek temple…or so I heard.  He seems to have bought into his own sales pitch.  The media selectively report what suits their own story of the campaign and ignore serious questions about Obama’s judgment and qualifications.  His supporters blindly follow him and don’t even stop to question when he does something like pick Joe Biden for VP.  It’s maddening, which is why I needed a huge break from it all. 

You know the worst part?  McCain and the Republicans are always reacting to what Obama does.  Obama sets the pace and tone of the campaign and McCain just reacts to it.  Is that how Presidents are elected?