WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congratulations to the inauguration of our country's first black president. I wish him the best of luck as he tackles the greatest set of challenges (domestic and international) that any president has been dealt since Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression.
However, in the midst of this celebratory milestone in U.S. history, there are those in the media elite and a plurality of American voters that have already created a deity in their own imperfect image. CNN, Fox News, and major news organizations are setting him up as an infallible man – only to tear him down later – while reporting Obama's every mundane and inconsequential move.
We have reached the point where we no longer have great to exceptional presidents such as Thomas Jefferson, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. What we have now is a self-defeatist, suffocating 24/7 news cycle that prevents modern-day presidents from attaining anything but mediocre to good status.
And the American voters are to blame . . . so many individuals (after a failed and inept Bush presidency) are going in the extreme opposite direction by anointing Barack Obama a saint and bowing down to his perceived Savior status.
Why don't we take a more pragmatic and realistic approach to viewing the new president as a good man who wants (and can do) great things for this country? At the same time, where is the money going to come from for the $825 billion stimulus package, the first of which had no lasting positive effect on the economy last spring?
People like to be hoodwinked and pretend that Obama is a moderate and a conciliatory politician. The truth is that he is the most liberal president ever. Let's hope that he will keep the interests of the independents and centrists in mind when he is making decisions that will impact their lives and well-being.
Sure, pull out of Iraq, but don't go bombing Pakistan without just cause. And how are you, Mr. President, actually going to create 2.5 million to 3 million jobs when the private sector is projected to lose 2 million jobs in 2009 by attrition? And is weaning our dependence off of global oil in 10 years a doable objective?
Have you seen the red, blue, and peach Obama posters? My God, his likeness resembles some of the old Soviet Union propaganda fliers featuring Stalin and Lenin. Are we so naive that Obama is being pumped up with such high, unobtainable expectations that he is doomed for failure? Why are we as a society worshipping this guy even as he is being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States?
It is a watershed event, but do we honestly think that he will be the only black president ever to be elected? We will more than likely see a woman president (Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin) or even a Hispanic president (definitely NOT Jeb Bush, but maybe his son George P. Bush) in our lifetime.
Meager recommendation: the media needs to BACK OFF and let this man do his job. Already, CNN is offering minute-by-minute coverage of Barack's first 100 days. How much will he be able to accomplish with cameras in his face constantly?
Reality check: the left- to center-left electorate needs to adjust their perceptions of this man without having crazy thoughts of grandeur as it relates to what is and what is not possible given the financial constraints that our government faces and the international crises that clamor at Obama's front door.
