Via Amritas, it's Lawrence Auster on yesterday's events, which I did not watch myself:
Today, as reported at the Corner, Brokaw "compared the spirit of this inauguration to the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. " In other words, replacing George W. Bush as president after a regularly scheduled presidential election is the moral equivalent of freeing your country from Communist tyranny.
Jonah Goldberg rightfully titled that post "Oh Come On!"
And another thoughtful comment by Auster:
How would an intellectually consistent race-blind conservative, i.e., a right-liberal, react to the election of the first nonwhite as president? Answer: he wouldn't make a huge deal of it. He would say, "Starting in the 1960s America ceased to place arbitrary obstacles in the way of people because of race, and the election of Obama proves what has been the case in this country for a long time." And that would be it. Going further than that, going into the ecstatic celebration of Obama's presidency, becomes a celebration of Obama BECAUSE he is nonwhite, which contradicts the right-liberal belief that race doesn't matter.
Amen to that. To quote Lileks, "I never thought America wouldn’t elect a Black president." I don't give a rip what the man looks like; I only care what he does.
And he sure hasn't overthrown a regime, Brokaw. You punk.
Posted by Sarah at January 21, 2009 02:43 PM | TrackBackLols...yeah, it makes me shake my head like when people call Bush the worst US president ever, obviously lacking any historical perspective, and seemingly glossing over everything that he did. I mean, his presidency is a serious case of half-empty vs. half-full in the eyes of many in the media and other people running their mouths.
Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at January 21, 2009 04:56 PMSarah,
I saw that quote about race-based celebration earlier today and I meant to email it to you in a long letter tonight, but I'm glad you found it on your own!
I did not see the Lileks quote until now, and it's a good one. When I see a black (or female or whatever) president in fiction, I never think, "Yeah, right, like that'll ever happen."
Now I've got a quote of yours I can use: "I don't give a rip what the man looks like; I only care what he does." Amen.
The Velvet Revolution analogy is wrong for yet another reason. Obama is no Václav Havel. This works both ways. Havel had a long, notable career in the arts and as a dissident before he became the first and last president of post-Communist Czechoslovakia, but there was never any worldwide "V" cult. Obama, on the other hand ...
Posted by: Amritas at January 21, 2009 05:13 PMI can't believe the country fell for the cult of personality that is the President Obama phenomena. It saddens me to think that our educational system has fallen so far that people fail to think things through and reason for themselves.
People want to blame President Bush for events that were set in motion long before he took office (9/11 and the economic meltdown for instance)I may not have agreed with him on many things but he was not the worst President ever.
The peaceful change of power yesterday was not a revolution. It occurs every 4 or 8 years. Always has and always will. Punk is putting it mildly for what the media did yesterday.
I had to stop watching, it was making me ill. Particularly galling were people in the crowd booing and singing hey, hey goodbye. You stay classy Obama fans.
Posted by: Mare at January 21, 2009 09:28 PMMare,
I can't believe the country fell for the cult of personality that is the President Obama phenomena.
I believe it. We live in a celebrity culture that worships the likes of Paris Hilton. A politician is just another subspecies of celebrity. Obama has star power, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should have the power. But it's too late. He already does.
I'd love for those who elected Obama because of how pretty he is and the color of his skin to get what they deserve - but I live in this country, too, and I don't want what they deserve.
We may soon learn the hard way how high the price for celebrity culture can be. And sadly, we'll forget that lesson and vote for another "star."
Posted by: Amritas at January 22, 2009 04:41 PM