Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Obama and Our Messiah Complex

Jon Stewart says he is disappointed in President Obama. Yes, Stewart, champion of rational politics over the zany and crazy politics of right wingers in the Republican party. The same Jon Stewart that has brilliantly used comedy on his Daily News Show to highlight the absurdity and hypocrisy of Fox News and company.

Well, on the Fox's Bill O'Reilly show, Stewart confessed that he is disappointed in the performance of President Obama. Get this...Stewart, usually pragmatic and rational, exclaims he thought he voted for a man that could walk on water, a man that could change water to wine. In other words, he is disappointed that mere mortal President Obama is not the messiah. Disappointed that Obama does not have a magic wand to instantly repair the damage of 8 years of Bush/Cheney, corporate unchecked greed and Wall Street ponzi schemes.

To further add insult to the already injured (middle America of all hues), the Republicans that created this mess will not lift one finger to help make the American public whole again. Their mantra has been, Just Say No. These hypocritical obstructionist will say no and filibuster even their own ideas if Obama adopts them. As a matter of fact, former president Jimmy Carter - who gives Obama high marks for Universal Health care and Wall Street reform, etc - observed, when interviewed by Charlie Rose, that Obama has faced the most hostile oppositional congress since pre-civil war Abraham Lincoln.

So I say to John Stewart, grow up, Tooth Fairies, Santa Claus, Super Action figures are for kids. Real structural change is hard and it requires coordination between elected leaders and the electorate. If we, supporters of President Obama, elected a man and just sat back because we believe he could magically fix things all by himself; if we sat back and wanted all our special interests legislated overnight while the roar of the Tea Party became louder and louder; if this is the case, then the object of disappointment falls directly on our shoulders.