Post Twenty

On the Cult of Personality
Back in the 1980's there was a rock band called Living Colour.  This band's greatest contribution to music (besides being black, a rare thing in the hard rock world) was a song entitled "Cult of Personality".  Basically, this muse is about how all us lemmings throughout history line up behind a charismatic 'Dear Leader'.  That leader can be a pacifist like Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr. or a sadistic, sociopathic murderer like Josef Stalin or Adolph Hitler.  That's not really the big point, though.  The main thing the lyricist was trying to say is that humans tend to turn off our higher brain functions, and blindly follow this charismatic force to either two places; a better world or into the abyss.

The Cult of Personality is alive and well in 2011.  Many of us during the election of 2008 wanted "change".  Bush the Younger had taken this nation to an undeclared war under extremely controversial circumstances in Iraq and to a lesser extent in Afghanistan.  After seven years of continuous fighting with no end in sight even staunch conservatives started saying it was time to bring the troops home.  The economic collapse of 2008 was mere icing on the cake.  The public was aroused from it's slumber, and wanted a leader in a completely different mold from Bush.  What they got, to quote The Who, was "the new boss, same as the old boss." 

Out of seemingly nowhere, a first-term democratic Senator from Illinois by the name of Barack Obama shocked the political establishment by beating the hands-down favorite, Hillary Clinton, in the democratic primary, and following up that victory with a decisive general election win over tired, boring neo-conservative fellow Senator John McCain (R-AZ).  Now, three years into his administration, we can now see Obama for what he truly is; a bought-and-paid for mouthpiece for the powers-that-be.  Wars have not been stopped, but expanded.  Constitutional rights have not been restored, but are increasingly being eroded with obscene violations being conducted daily by the Gestapo-esque TSA and the unconstitutional Patriot Act.  The spending...oh the spending.  While Bush was no Ludwig von Mises (google him...he's worth a Wiki read) he makes Obama look like a penny-pincher. 

Obama should never have been elected President.  Not because I disagree with him on politics.  That is not enough.  He shouldn't have been elected because his main claim to fame was his charisma, not his deeds or qualifications.  Instead, Americans elected the man with the same intellectual criteria as a high school President; by his "likability"; how he looks on camera and how he gives a speech.  Cult of Personality?  You bet.

Now, it is high time we fixed that mistake.  A man is running for President that is the antithesis of every other serious candidate.  This man is not handsome.  He is not going to provoke "a thrill running up my leg" ala Chris Matthews.  Instead, he is simply an honest man who desires more than any one thing a return to our constitutional core values of small government and fiscal responsibility.  He wants our republic back.  He wants to throw the powers-at-be straight out the door just like patriots once did to a King back in 1776.  His name is Ron Paul, and if you have had enough of being treated like a child I would suggest you visit his website, and see what he is all about. 

In conclusion, it is a shame that I even need to write a blog post like this one in the 21st century.  I am reminded of Khan's line in the original Star Trek, "Everything changes, except man."  While we should intellectually know that the two political parties are really just two parts of a larger whole we still hold on to our tribal instincts rooting for one side to triumph over the other.  How's that working for you? 

The republic is not dead, but if we are so stupid as to elect another "class president", then I fear for the future.  Our debt is such that we simply cannot afford another four years of borrowing and spending at levels that will force our nation into economic ruin.  Our "nation building" is not only costly in terms of human lives and material treasure,but it goes against the core values of our republic.  Ignoring these realities has cost us too much for too long. 

You want "change"?  It's Ron Paul, not Barack Obama.