The Obama factor: A values renaissance?
Isabel P. Ball
January 04, 2007
A political rock star is born, so seems the frenzy. Born not on the traditional Hollywood stage, but from the opposite continental end of our nation, in the east coast, where natural players perform their daily routine of influencing the nation and the world of its policies.
All media klieg lights are now focused on BO or simply, Barack Obama, a political rock star, author of the new book the Audacity of Hope. Barack Obama, so ethnic a name, is creating hysteria in the political scene. Thrusting into the limelight, like a meteor, he keeps the nation astir. Carrying with him the fervor to serve the country, he is already a civil servant, one term Senator from Illinois, now his sights are also astronomic--his eyes are set on the prize--the Presidency of the United States.
Threatening, Obama may have seemed to other lurking politicians. He has flushed out the seasoned politician, Hillary Clinton, prematurely coming out to the open and to declare her bid for the presidency. Next to follow was John Edwards, recently and officially jumping into the democratic bandwagon of presidential aspirants. Meanwhile, the star basks in the limelight of popularity, astutely, surveying the playing field, testing the political waters. Afterall, age is what he has an advantage of, now only 47.
Quizzical like most about BO, I, like the competing aspirants, is sucked into the Obama magic. Like a steady personal discomfort needing relief, I visited a bookstore, and found his book prominently displayed. Plan of ownership, however, is easily stymied by the exorbitant price of the book. I ended up thumbing through pages and doing a cursory reading. No doubt, Obama is articulate and lucid, but his lines of thoughts were not something I’d call novel, a new invention. They have been the foundation of social management I’d call politics. Respect for the will of the people expressed in ballots, the art of keeping the dreams and aspirations of citizens harmonized and fulfilled, virtues politicians should have and apply, in fact, our forefathers were the originals of clear intent politics set in stone in our constitution.
In a contextual analysis, Obama is hitting the marks with his effrontery, daring to speak out, delineate, elaborate his intentions—though, all theoretically stand at this juncture. The actual taste of the pudding, so to speak, remains a question, until when the pudding is actually baked, ready for testing. Analogous, Obama will have to be elected to the Presidency first, before we would know of his real capabilities and true character as a leader of the land. But from history, we risk the danger of having an intern-leader in the Whitehouse by electing someone with less experience, specially, in a world of turmoil.
What is hitting the harmony chords of the media and the political maverick Obama, in spite of his ethnicity, age, and limited experience, is an element of clear intents articulated in his book. The principles and theories are regurgitations of that of an idealist, but in the present style of leadership, they are markedly refreshing. At such times when we hear nothing but wide ranging allegations of lies, influence peddling, power brokering and dishonesty about our politicians make us despondent, that anything out of the ordinary, excites us, and that can be duping.
Daring to be different in an environment of swirling hedonistic politicians, like sharks in feeding frenzy, is where Obama is able to keep the limelight upon him, and he is being observed, analyzed, and will be judged. In political field where most players are keeping a stubborn will to win, at any cost, is precisely the problem characterizing our politicians of today, and where Obama—physically--lean and lanky, metaphorically, stands out like a bean pole. His audacity to dream way above his head, and talking about restoring honesty in the office that most politicians give only a lip service to, is worth the salt. Sincerity and candor, to boot, are no doubt, politically enhancing to Obama, however, remarked a perceptive Black American friend to me, after having pored over on his new book. She said, ‘Obama will not get my vote. He is still a stripling a politician to me.’
From recent news, Obama has admittedly committed misdemeanors in his youth, including the future-wrecking use of drug, not just marijuana--but Heroin--and booze on the side. Obama was wise enough to have made his revelations about his past drug use in his memoir written in his 30s. A trend set by Clinton’s use of Marijuana, without inhaling, and then Bushs’ own admission of drug and alcohol consumption in his youth, Obama, because of the precedence, might now have joined in the club of sinners, seeking redemption, and continuing to trek the Olympian pathway to the Whitehouse unrestricted by a moral requirement.
Danger that I see, far from being puritanical, from a person’s blotched past, is a basic character flaw in an individual. We’ve heard so much of recidivists that prison time were unable to rectify and/or reform them. Bill Clinton might be a simple example of such a behavior. Known for his emphatic perjuries by a wagging finger he committed as president, it all culminated into the Lewinsky affair, his waterloo, as a politician. As an individual, he is disrobed of that ethereal respectability.
George Bush, though unheard of any reversions, is an extreme of a politician in behavior; he is stubborn, and brushes off any suggestions relating to solving the Iraq impasse, except advices from his own advisers, that seemed to have all ran out of creative solutions, dooming out Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure. Bush is also alleged of having lied to the people, in particular, Saddam’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and the rationale for his invasion of Iraq. Macho and a man of western ways and values, Bush, in the Whitehouse, is like a Bronco Rider, buckling to no one.
America might have truly deviated from the righteous pathway of politics, laid for us by our constitution architects. The values that have created the magnificence of America attest to its wholesomeness. In our time, erosion of said values is what we see occurring in America, now mired in domestic social problems of wayward citizenry immersed in unprecedented opulence, many reveling with the use of opiates, and on the other end, creation of social anomie, in throngs of hopeless people on the streets. Also, increasing and uncontrolled are criminals committing violence against children, killings in schools, crimes of passions, illicit sex and drugs, and alcohol, to civil crimes mar the social scene in a country borne of successful human experiment, unfortunately, facing a threat of moral collapse.
Is it any wonder why Barack Obama is viewed like a messiah? Or in a trendy context, consider BO a fashion, not a new design, but something that is worthy enough to come back into the loop. By nature, we always look for new things and new ways, and Obama is setting a trend, hopefully, his is a crusade back to civility.
All media klieg lights are now focused on BO or simply, Barack Obama, a political rock star, author of the new book the Audacity of Hope. Barack Obama, so ethnic a name, is creating hysteria in the political scene. Thrusting into the limelight, like a meteor, he keeps the nation astir. Carrying with him the fervor to serve the country, he is already a civil servant, one term Senator from Illinois, now his sights are also astronomic--his eyes are set on the prize--the Presidency of the United States.
Threatening, Obama may have seemed to other lurking politicians. He has flushed out the seasoned politician, Hillary Clinton, prematurely coming out to the open and to declare her bid for the presidency. Next to follow was John Edwards, recently and officially jumping into the democratic bandwagon of presidential aspirants. Meanwhile, the star basks in the limelight of popularity, astutely, surveying the playing field, testing the political waters. Afterall, age is what he has an advantage of, now only 47.
Quizzical like most about BO, I, like the competing aspirants, is sucked into the Obama magic. Like a steady personal discomfort needing relief, I visited a bookstore, and found his book prominently displayed. Plan of ownership, however, is easily stymied by the exorbitant price of the book. I ended up thumbing through pages and doing a cursory reading. No doubt, Obama is articulate and lucid, but his lines of thoughts were not something I’d call novel, a new invention. They have been the foundation of social management I’d call politics. Respect for the will of the people expressed in ballots, the art of keeping the dreams and aspirations of citizens harmonized and fulfilled, virtues politicians should have and apply, in fact, our forefathers were the originals of clear intent politics set in stone in our constitution.
In a contextual analysis, Obama is hitting the marks with his effrontery, daring to speak out, delineate, elaborate his intentions—though, all theoretically stand at this juncture. The actual taste of the pudding, so to speak, remains a question, until when the pudding is actually baked, ready for testing. Analogous, Obama will have to be elected to the Presidency first, before we would know of his real capabilities and true character as a leader of the land. But from history, we risk the danger of having an intern-leader in the Whitehouse by electing someone with less experience, specially, in a world of turmoil.
What is hitting the harmony chords of the media and the political maverick Obama, in spite of his ethnicity, age, and limited experience, is an element of clear intents articulated in his book. The principles and theories are regurgitations of that of an idealist, but in the present style of leadership, they are markedly refreshing. At such times when we hear nothing but wide ranging allegations of lies, influence peddling, power brokering and dishonesty about our politicians make us despondent, that anything out of the ordinary, excites us, and that can be duping.
Daring to be different in an environment of swirling hedonistic politicians, like sharks in feeding frenzy, is where Obama is able to keep the limelight upon him, and he is being observed, analyzed, and will be judged. In political field where most players are keeping a stubborn will to win, at any cost, is precisely the problem characterizing our politicians of today, and where Obama—physically--lean and lanky, metaphorically, stands out like a bean pole. His audacity to dream way above his head, and talking about restoring honesty in the office that most politicians give only a lip service to, is worth the salt. Sincerity and candor, to boot, are no doubt, politically enhancing to Obama, however, remarked a perceptive Black American friend to me, after having pored over on his new book. She said, ‘Obama will not get my vote. He is still a stripling a politician to me.’
From recent news, Obama has admittedly committed misdemeanors in his youth, including the future-wrecking use of drug, not just marijuana--but Heroin--and booze on the side. Obama was wise enough to have made his revelations about his past drug use in his memoir written in his 30s. A trend set by Clinton’s use of Marijuana, without inhaling, and then Bushs’ own admission of drug and alcohol consumption in his youth, Obama, because of the precedence, might now have joined in the club of sinners, seeking redemption, and continuing to trek the Olympian pathway to the Whitehouse unrestricted by a moral requirement.
Danger that I see, far from being puritanical, from a person’s blotched past, is a basic character flaw in an individual. We’ve heard so much of recidivists that prison time were unable to rectify and/or reform them. Bill Clinton might be a simple example of such a behavior. Known for his emphatic perjuries by a wagging finger he committed as president, it all culminated into the Lewinsky affair, his waterloo, as a politician. As an individual, he is disrobed of that ethereal respectability.
George Bush, though unheard of any reversions, is an extreme of a politician in behavior; he is stubborn, and brushes off any suggestions relating to solving the Iraq impasse, except advices from his own advisers, that seemed to have all ran out of creative solutions, dooming out Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure. Bush is also alleged of having lied to the people, in particular, Saddam’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and the rationale for his invasion of Iraq. Macho and a man of western ways and values, Bush, in the Whitehouse, is like a Bronco Rider, buckling to no one.
America might have truly deviated from the righteous pathway of politics, laid for us by our constitution architects. The values that have created the magnificence of America attest to its wholesomeness. In our time, erosion of said values is what we see occurring in America, now mired in domestic social problems of wayward citizenry immersed in unprecedented opulence, many reveling with the use of opiates, and on the other end, creation of social anomie, in throngs of hopeless people on the streets. Also, increasing and uncontrolled are criminals committing violence against children, killings in schools, crimes of passions, illicit sex and drugs, and alcohol, to civil crimes mar the social scene in a country borne of successful human experiment, unfortunately, facing a threat of moral collapse.
Is it any wonder why Barack Obama is viewed like a messiah? Or in a trendy context, consider BO a fashion, not a new design, but something that is worthy enough to come back into the loop. By nature, we always look for new things and new ways, and Obama is setting a trend, hopefully, his is a crusade back to civility.
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