Beware of Obama Comedown Syndrome
Urban Hiker
Posts: 1,312
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/351895_brooks20.html
Beware Obama Comedown Syndrome
Last updated February 19, 2008 5:24 p.m. PT
By DAVID BROOKS
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
At first it seemed like a few random cases of lassitude among Mary Chapin Carpenter devotees in Berkeley, Cambridge and Chapel Hill. But then psychotherapists began to realize patients across the country were complaining of the same distress. They were experiencing the first hints of what's bound to be a national phenomenon, Obama Comedown Syndrome.
The afflicted already had been through the phases of Obama-mania -- fainting at rallies, weeping over their touch screens while watching Obama videos, spending hours making folk crafts featuring Michelle Obama's face. The patients had experienced intense surges of hope-amine, the brain chemical that fuels euphoric sensations of historic change and personal salvation.
But they found that as the weeks went on, they needed more and purer hope injections just to preserve the rush. They wound up craving more hope than even the Hope Pope could provide, and they began experiencing brooding moments of suboptimal hopefulness. Anxious posts began to appear on the Yes We Can! Facebook pages. A sense of ennui began to creep through the nation's Ian McEwan-centered book clubs.
Up until now The Chosen One's speeches had seemed to them less like stretches of words and more like soul sensations that transcended time and space. But those in the grips of Obama Comedown Syndrome began to wonder if his stuff actually made sense. For example, His Hopeness tells rallies that we are the change we have been waiting for, but if we are the change we have been waiting for, why have we been waiting since we've been here all along?
Patients in the grip of OCS rarely express doubts at first, but in a classic case of transference, many experience slivers of sympathy for Hillary Clinton. They see her campaign morosely traipsing from one depressed industrial area to another -- The Sitting Shiva for America Tour. They see that her entire political strategy consists of waiting for primary states as boring as she is.
They feel for her. They feel guilty because the entire commentariat now treats her like Richard Nixon. Are liberal elites rationalizing their own betrayal of her? Is Hillary just another fading First Wife thrown away for the first available Trophy Messiah?
As the syndrome progresses, they begin to ask questions about The Presence himself:
Barack Obama vowed to abide by the public finance campaign spending rules in the general election if his opponent did. But now he's waffling on his promise. Why does he need to check with his campaign staff members when deciding whether to keep his word?
Obama says he is practicing a new kind of politics, but why has his PAC sloshed $698,000 to the campaigns of the superdelegates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics? Is giving Robert Byrd's campaign $10,000 the kind of change we can believe in?
If he values independent thinking, why is his the most predictable liberal vote in the Senate? A People for the American Way computer program would cast the same votes for cheaper.
And should we be worried about Obama's mountainous self-confidence?
These doubts lead OCS sufferers down the path to the question that is the Unholy of the Unholies for Obama-maniacs: How exactly would all this unity he talks about come to pass?
How is a 47-year-old novice going to unify highly polarized 70-something committee chairs? What will happen if the nation's 261,000 lobbyists don't see the light, even after the laying on of hands? Does The Changemaker have the guts to take on the special interests in his own party -- the trial lawyers, the teachers unions, the AARP?
The Gang of 14 created bipartisan unity on judges, but Obama sat it out. Kennedy and McCain created a bipartisan deal on immigration. Obama opted out of the parts that displeased the unions. Sixty-eight senators supported a bipartisan deal on FISA. Obama voted no. And if he were president now, how would the High Deacon of Unity heal the breach that split the House last week?
The victims of OCS struggle against Obama-myopia, or the inability to see beyond Election Day. But here's the fascinating thing: They still like him. They know that most of his hope mongering is vaporous. They know that he knows it's vaporous.
But the fact that they can share this dream still means something. After the magic fades and reality sets in, they still know something about his soul, and he knows something about theirs. They figure that any new president is going to face gigantic obstacles. At least this candidate seems likely to want to head in the right direction. Obama's hype comes from exaggerating his powers and his virtues, not faking them.
Those afflicted with OCS are no longer as moved by his perorations. The fever passes. But some invisible connection seems to persist.
David Brooks writes for The New York Times.
© 1998-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/351895_brooks20.html
Beware Obama Comedown Syndrome
Last updated February 19, 2008 5:24 p.m. PT
By DAVID BROOKS
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
At first it seemed like a few random cases of lassitude among Mary Chapin Carpenter devotees in Berkeley, Cambridge and Chapel Hill. But then psychotherapists began to realize patients across the country were complaining of the same distress. They were experiencing the first hints of what's bound to be a national phenomenon, Obama Comedown Syndrome.
The afflicted already had been through the phases of Obama-mania -- fainting at rallies, weeping over their touch screens while watching Obama videos, spending hours making folk crafts featuring Michelle Obama's face. The patients had experienced intense surges of hope-amine, the brain chemical that fuels euphoric sensations of historic change and personal salvation.
But they found that as the weeks went on, they needed more and purer hope injections just to preserve the rush. They wound up craving more hope than even the Hope Pope could provide, and they began experiencing brooding moments of suboptimal hopefulness. Anxious posts began to appear on the Yes We Can! Facebook pages. A sense of ennui began to creep through the nation's Ian McEwan-centered book clubs.
Up until now The Chosen One's speeches had seemed to them less like stretches of words and more like soul sensations that transcended time and space. But those in the grips of Obama Comedown Syndrome began to wonder if his stuff actually made sense. For example, His Hopeness tells rallies that we are the change we have been waiting for, but if we are the change we have been waiting for, why have we been waiting since we've been here all along?
Patients in the grip of OCS rarely express doubts at first, but in a classic case of transference, many experience slivers of sympathy for Hillary Clinton. They see her campaign morosely traipsing from one depressed industrial area to another -- The Sitting Shiva for America Tour. They see that her entire political strategy consists of waiting for primary states as boring as she is.
They feel for her. They feel guilty because the entire commentariat now treats her like Richard Nixon. Are liberal elites rationalizing their own betrayal of her? Is Hillary just another fading First Wife thrown away for the first available Trophy Messiah?
As the syndrome progresses, they begin to ask questions about The Presence himself:
Barack Obama vowed to abide by the public finance campaign spending rules in the general election if his opponent did. But now he's waffling on his promise. Why does he need to check with his campaign staff members when deciding whether to keep his word?
Obama says he is practicing a new kind of politics, but why has his PAC sloshed $698,000 to the campaigns of the superdelegates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics? Is giving Robert Byrd's campaign $10,000 the kind of change we can believe in?
If he values independent thinking, why is his the most predictable liberal vote in the Senate? A People for the American Way computer program would cast the same votes for cheaper.
And should we be worried about Obama's mountainous self-confidence?
These doubts lead OCS sufferers down the path to the question that is the Unholy of the Unholies for Obama-maniacs: How exactly would all this unity he talks about come to pass?
How is a 47-year-old novice going to unify highly polarized 70-something committee chairs? What will happen if the nation's 261,000 lobbyists don't see the light, even after the laying on of hands? Does The Changemaker have the guts to take on the special interests in his own party -- the trial lawyers, the teachers unions, the AARP?
The Gang of 14 created bipartisan unity on judges, but Obama sat it out. Kennedy and McCain created a bipartisan deal on immigration. Obama opted out of the parts that displeased the unions. Sixty-eight senators supported a bipartisan deal on FISA. Obama voted no. And if he were president now, how would the High Deacon of Unity heal the breach that split the House last week?
The victims of OCS struggle against Obama-myopia, or the inability to see beyond Election Day. But here's the fascinating thing: They still like him. They know that most of his hope mongering is vaporous. They know that he knows it's vaporous.
But the fact that they can share this dream still means something. After the magic fades and reality sets in, they still know something about his soul, and he knows something about theirs. They figure that any new president is going to face gigantic obstacles. At least this candidate seems likely to want to head in the right direction. Obama's hype comes from exaggerating his powers and his virtues, not faking them.
Those afflicted with OCS are no longer as moved by his perorations. The fever passes. But some invisible connection seems to persist.
David Brooks writes for The New York Times.
© 1998-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Walking can be a real trip
***********************
"We've laid the groundwork. It's like planting the seeds. And next year, it's spring." - Nader
***********************
Prepare for tending to your garden, America.
***********************
"We've laid the groundwork. It's like planting the seeds. And next year, it's spring." - Nader
***********************
Prepare for tending to your garden, America.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
dehydration in February?
doesn't that happen during the Summer
last I checked Feb was NOT Summer
maybe he's the Anti-Christ
PEARL JAM~San Antonio, TX. 4~5~03
INCUBUS~Houston, TX. 1~19~07
INCUBUS~Denver, CO. 2~8~07
Lollapalooza~Chicago, IL. 8~5~07
INCUBUS~Austin, TX. 9~3~07
Bonnaroo~Manchester, TN 6~14~08
http://www.all4humor.com/images/files/Scary%20Hillary%20Clinton.jpg
This phenomenon doesn't seem to be happening at Hillary or McCain rallies. I've seen some blogs suggesting that these fainting spells are staged to show Obama's compassion. I don't believe that. But I do believe the fainting is due not to dehydration, but to being star struck (ala the Beatles). Obama is the new rock start candidate, and has built a cult of personality.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=78rfAAjriBo
You wouldn't happen to have an Obama fan fainting spell where he stopped the speech and actually cared about the person's well-being, would you?
probably not, huh?
PEARL JAM~San Antonio, TX. 4~5~03
INCUBUS~Houston, TX. 1~19~07
INCUBUS~Denver, CO. 2~8~07
Lollapalooza~Chicago, IL. 8~5~07
INCUBUS~Austin, TX. 9~3~07
Bonnaroo~Manchester, TN 6~14~08
Nice, hadn't seen that.
Does anyone faint at McCain rallies or do they just fall asleep?
I've seen a few of the Obama fainting episodes, and every time he stops the speech, asks for people to give the person room, asks for the EMTs to come in to render help. I don't really youtube, so I can't point you to any.
I'll believe you when I see it.....
I'm not saying it isn't true, I'm just saying, "I'd like to see the proof"
PEARL JAM~San Antonio, TX. 4~5~03
INCUBUS~Houston, TX. 1~19~07
INCUBUS~Denver, CO. 2~8~07
Lollapalooza~Chicago, IL. 8~5~07
INCUBUS~Austin, TX. 9~3~07
Bonnaroo~Manchester, TN 6~14~08
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uLKgbeG-KGc
I apologize completely
note: even though I disagree with him Politically, he is a very nice and cordial man, that video does show his kindness, a side to him I hadn't seen before
you may have just won a new Obama supporter
I don't vote till March 4th
all I can say is WOW........
PEARL JAM~San Antonio, TX. 4~5~03
INCUBUS~Houston, TX. 1~19~07
INCUBUS~Denver, CO. 2~8~07
Lollapalooza~Chicago, IL. 8~5~07
INCUBUS~Austin, TX. 9~3~07
Bonnaroo~Manchester, TN 6~14~08
do us a favor and stay home...
play nice now or your Mommy's gonna spank your bum
hahahahahaha
PEARL JAM~San Antonio, TX. 4~5~03
INCUBUS~Houston, TX. 1~19~07
INCUBUS~Denver, CO. 2~8~07
Lollapalooza~Chicago, IL. 8~5~07
INCUBUS~Austin, TX. 9~3~07
Bonnaroo~Manchester, TN 6~14~08
Maybe it's just due to the number of people... For an obama speech, there are 10,000+ on hand, so the chance of someone fainting in a hot, packed arena is much higher than in a room full of 50 clinton or mccain supporters
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
for the least they could possibly do
I agree. Full of shit and cashing in on people's desperation by pushing false hope. He uses catch phrases and buzz words in much the same way televangelists use bible verses and sermons to get the desired reaction from the audience.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
On the other hand, I guess that would make him like every other politician ... only better at it.
for the least they could possibly do
I don't know if it's just my cynicism or what, but at this point I think the biggest job requirement for a President is to be a great spokesman, with skills in marketing and inspiring hope in people.
No big policy decisions or really any decisions are made without countless advisers and policy "experts".
I would much rather have a person in office who will lift the mood of this country and get us out of the collective funk that we have been in... and to improve our standing in the global community.
As far as the nuts and bolts of policy, that will be dictated by the same sort of people no matter who is in office.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
If thats all you're after,
why don't you just write "Mickey Fucking Mouse" in on your ballot when you go to the general election polls?
Seriously people.
This is PART of the reason our country is so fucked.
"Hey the president isn't really even important for policy setting, he's just a mascot at a spirit rally!"
Get fucking real.
If you had a REAL president, they would VETO the shit out of shit-legislation, and they would reverse over a decade of bad executive orders ... and they would write some good ones of their own ...
... hell, maybe they'd even enforce Kennedy's EO 111110 ...
WHICH BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER POINT:
OBAMA IS NOTHING LIKE JFK.
If being able to make some feel-good speeches is the extent of your ability to draw a comparison, than please just stop.
Kennedy had some serious policy flaws (imho) ... but he was very anti-establishment in SOME of his views ... and they were the ones that COUNTED ...
HE WANTED SILVER AS LEGAL TENDER ... Executive Order 111110 is still on the books ... look it up ...
HE THOUGHT THE CIA WAS AN ABOMINATION AND WANTED TO GET RID OF IT ... he even said if this country underwent a coup de etat, it would be the CIA that was responsible ... look it up.
He spoke candidly and publicly about SECRET SOCIETIES BEING REPUGNANT ... and on and on about it ...
He insisted and urged big business (steel industry specificaly) to put aside profit motive and think of the good of the people, and to let the good of the people be your lifes work, not just chasing the dollar ...
Any how ...
i don't hear Obama talking shit about ANYTHING revolutionary in terms like that ... he talks in lame ass buzz words and feel good bullshit.
And his fiscal policy, while well-intentioned, is fucking ridiculously unsound! Where the fuck is all the money for this bullshit gonna come from?
:(
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Words really don't mean much without sincerity and 'real' action to back them. I haven't been too impressed with what I've seen from Obama... quite the opposite actually. I've noticed an inability to point out where he really stands on things. I've seen him completely dodge questions. I don't trust him to do what's right for the people where the war, the environment and healthcare are concerned, especially. He's not going to pull out of Iraq. Hillary, as yucky as she is, has pointed out some very important inconsistences and weak excuses in Obama's record concerning the war: http://www.nysun.com/article/69464 , he has been quoted as calling nuclear energy 'green' and what a shocker, that same industry is one of his top contributors. http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair07042007.html
His healthcare plan is half-assed and not designed to do what he sells it as. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/opinion/30krugman.html
If people need a cheerleader for president who raises morale and is great with pep rallys so be it...it's certainly your opinion to have. But I'd prefer having having a dependable quarterback whose record shows consistency and isn't afraid to get out there and make the plays that best benefit his team. We all know the best pep rally doesn't amount to too much when gameday comes.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Honestly, what you just said sounds like what Bush supporters have been saying about Bush for his entire presidency.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Well of course, because they believe in the actions he has taken. I don't but that's not the point I was making, obviously. The point still stands that a leader needs to be more than a cheerleader, imo.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Anti Iraq War Rally
Chicago, IL
October 2, 2002 (The day President Bush and Congress agreed in Joint Iraq War Resolutuon)
Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don't oppose all wars.
My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton's army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain. I don't oppose all wars.
After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again. I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism.
What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income - to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. Now let me be clear - I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He's a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.
But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars.
So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings. You want a fight, President Bush?
Let's fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe. You want a fight, President Bush?
Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil. Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.
The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not -- we will not -- travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.
i would argue that he is more then a cheerleader...
that is hilarious! pretty good article all around. i mean, it's clearly written by a Hillary propagandist, but it's not entirely untrue. the Obama campaign is like a religious revival. so is Hillary's at times tho...
Oh yeah, I can think of a few more words that describe him, as well. The point I was making was in referenece to this post: http://forums.pearljam.com/showpost.php?p=5210231&postcount=19
And out of curiousity, what is he to you exactly? I'm interested in hearing your opinion especially after the Zinn piece you posted yesterday.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
i havent forgot about you on this one... i just figure this question deserves an answer that takes a few minutes for my brain to hit the keyboard
Take your time. I'm also curious if anyone had any thoughts on the links or points I brought up in this post:
Words really don't mean much without sincerity and 'real' action to back them. I haven't been too impressed with what I've seen from Obama... quite the opposite actually. I've noticed an inability to point out where he really stands on things. I've seen him completely dodge questions. I don't trust him to do what's right for the people where the war, the environment and healthcare are concerned, especially. He's not going to pull out of Iraq. Hillary, as yucky as she is, has pointed out some very important inconsistences and weak excuses in Obama's record concerning the war: http://www.nysun.com/article/69464 , he has been quoted as calling nuclear energy 'green' and what a shocker, that same industry is one of his top contributors. http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair07042007.html
His healthcare plan is half-assed and not designed to do what he sells it as. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/op...30krugman.html
Is this the best we can do? How is this so much better than any of the other halfassed Dems we've been complaining about for so long?
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
I was highly disappointed at the caucuses. First caucusing is bullshit, but that's for another thread. But, I couldn't believe how many people had Obama fever. When asked why they were voting for him, their answers were as ambiguous as Obama's speeches. It was all about feeling. I live in Seattle. These citizens are reputed as being highly educated, well read and very liberal. Unfortunately, we are also nonconfrontational, so when something seems to be going without argument, I guess we just follow along. I really expected more from my city.
It was like watching people being mesmerized by some feel good television commercial.
As much as I think Budweiser's commercials are funny and memorable, it's no excuse for me to drink shitty beer.
By now it's a moot point. But, I hope you all will be ready to cause a ruckus when your feel good cheerleader starts letting you down.
***********************
"We've laid the groundwork. It's like planting the seeds. And next year, it's spring." - Nader
***********************
Prepare for tending to your garden, America.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
next.