Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

And so it goes…

Mr. Barack Obama officially entered the world’s stage exactly one year ago today. His presidential inauguration, in keeping with the coronation theme at his party’s convention the previous summer, had the aura of an historic event. The nation’s first black president (please ignore the pigment of his mother) ushered in a new era of hope and change to a nation on the cusp of its worst economic crisis since the great depression. Things had to be done, and done quickly. And our countrymen ordained Barack Obama as just the man to do it.

Or did they?

Since Euripides, hubris stands as the nearly universal flaw in tragic theater. And the life and times so the forty-fourth President of the United States seems eerily destined to repeat the tragedy of the previous Democrat to occupy the White House. As it was then, so it is today.

Arrogance often strikes down the tallest man. Then, it was an arrogant belief personal character failings could not disrupt a country bought off by a buoyant economy. Now, it is pure unadulterated arrogance of ego. The arrogance to believe the election was about him (surprise, it was about the rejection of the other guy). The arrogance to accept an unearned Nobel Prize (surprise, it was about the rejection of the other guy). And, most tragically, the arrogance to blame all the world’s problems on the other guy (surprise, it’s no longer about the other guy).

And so, with the dethronement of the Imperial Seat of Kennedy in Massachusetts, (and the juicy irony this act may signal the end to a poorly written health care plan passed in memoriam of the late Senator), we are left to wonder: Is this the beginning of the end?

No. The beginning of the end occurred just less than a year ago. As I’ve said before, that’s when Obama jumped the shark. The beginning of the end started with his peak triumph, what will undoubtedly go down as the infamous signature of his tenure as president, the failed “stimulus” bill. Sold to the public as necessary to stave off a Depression and create jobs, we have continued to bleed jobs and, oh, by the way, the cycle of the economy can cure itself, thank-you-very-much.

Rather than the beginning of the end, we’re more likely to experience a long drawn-out final act. No matter what happens this November, Obama remains with us until 2012. He may be a shell of his former self – and may thus be re-elected – but he’ll never attain the height he reached a mere twelve months ago.

Of course, he may never realize this.

Tragedies are like that.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

Welcome to your personal purgatory.

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