Bite back

We here are having the "Obama is the Messiah" message thrust down our throat. I am getting a slightly less favourable feedback from a number of the 'usual suspect' blogs based in America. Now - I know that no one is perfect (look what some people say about our own tool Brown!) - but these are amongst the comments on what is normally a very conservative (small 'c') site.

I kinda wonder what some of the rest of the world thinks about the hype and hoopla and hysteria surrounding BO’s inauguration. It’s far and away more grand, more publicized, more covered, and more costly than any other we’ve had so far, more like coronation of a royal sovereign than the smooth transfer of power in a free republic.

Even worse, what message will be sent by the security measures being arranged and amount of muscle and firepower employed for crowd control and terrorist suppression (both foreign and domestic)? If I saw something like this being arranged in Italy or France or Spain or Canada or Mexico or Japan, I’d assume the incoming executive to be somehow seriously threatened, or doomed, fatally flawed, deathly unpopular, marked for murder.

Hell, the security forces allotted to this folderol fiesta are greater than what we have in Afghanistan. Total price of this shindig (salaries, vehicles, equipment, overtime, printing, communications, and what-not) are already into 9 figures, and this in a nation which has taken a routine market correction, mismanaged it into a recession, magnified that into a disaster, and allowed that to grow into an economic catastrophe of global import.

WTF, O? I mean, WTFF, dammit! Is this all necessary? Will the people footing the bill (the taxpayers) be able to participate, witness, observe, understand, hear, or see any friggin part of it except via TV? And couldn’t that be done just as effectively today as it was 50 years ago? Frankly, I think we’ve lost it.

“At Last” my ass. More like The Last.

Inarguably we have morphed into a society characterized by excess. Everything has to be bigger, noisier, flashier, more complex, and certainly more expensive than related precedents. Movies have to have more violence, more spectacle, more explosions, faster chases, and higher body counts. Music videos have to have more bump and grind, more controversial lyrics, more glitter, and definitely more bling. Political campaigns have to have more accusations, more innuendo, more scandal, and more polarization.

And now it appears that inauguration ceremonies have to resemble carnivals, side shows, self-congratulatory awards presentations, and compare favorably to the cast of Roots. We’re on a rusting ship whose boilers have salted up, whose rudder has lodged at hard left, whose moral compass has fallen into the bilge, and whose crew got their hands-on training from The Keystone Cops and their degrees from The Three Stooges.

The problem is that all considered, this is still the best port that ship can drop anchor in. I can only shudder when I imagine what life will be like in other places when this country stops coming up with new ideas, finding new applications for old technologies, and growing food for export to places which can’t grow their own.

Sadly, considering the decay of our educational system, the decline in the quality of our leadership, and the demise of personal ethics and accountability, I think we may be not far from that point.

Posted by: Denny on January 19, 2009 05:45 PM

I really believe this country is going to require some type of revolution to get it back on track. Not necessarily one involving violence, but one involving a change in values and the way we live. One where people "want" for stuff again and don't have or get everything they want. One where personal responsibility is rewarded and lack of is punished. Until the values upon which the foundations of this country were founded on return to every day living once again, we can never really be as great as we have the potential to be.

Posted by: Ray on January 19, 2009 06:04 PM

Sandy G, I couldn't agree more. In fact, I will not be watching any television at all for the next several days.

My school district called letting parents know that they will be broadcasting the inauguration to the elementary school. I called my son's and daughter's teachers (4th grade and kindergarten) and told them that my children would not be attending school that day. The teachers called me back and said that it was up their discretion and that they would not be broadcasting the inauguration and for me not to worry. I guess I lucked out with two really good teachers. God bless teachers (some of them)

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