In Fear of Fear

It has been a long while since I wrote anything for this space. That is in part because I am by nature, lazy. In addition, I am working- view the word with skepticism- on a book I have pledged to finish by December 31st.

What has brought me back to this space is the very large, looming, and inescapable question of Barack Obama. Last February I wrote here that he appeared to be to the left of Lenin, Like most of the country I suspect, deep in my heart I long for a magic prince to save us all. The problems that face us are huge and have been neglected for decades. There seems to be so little time to save ourselves that it is natural, almost inevitable, that our Hollywood-oriented society would be searching for some other-worldly solution…a magic prince. Have we found him? Would that it were so, and it might be. But how can we tell? That is the question.

It is impressive that 85% of Europeans prefer Obama to McCain. Or is it? Perhaps they love their own image in the mirror. Or maybe they would like us to do that thing they could never imagine doing themselves, and choose a man of color to lead us. Have we, in this time of stress, reached the point where we will elect a man of color simply because he is a man of color who will end our history of white guilt and black inferiority? I hope not, but it’s possible.

What is Obama offering us?

I don’t know. His experience is negligible, but his confidence seems undeterred by that. His speeches are lovely to listen to, but hold little in the way of specifics. Then too, given the way his stand has changed on multiple subjects, how can we assume he knows what he will do, would do, or could do, in a given circumstance?

Character is the problem: judgment. How can we evaluate him when it appears that he is trying hard to please us all by being unspecific, by changing the ground on which he stands, by being, God help us, the typical politician whose object is to win the election not to inform us?

We need him to be a reliable stream of information about himself and his plans for the nation. At the moment he is not. Instead he overwhelms us with words and presidential images, more like a tsunami, fueled by our fears and our needs. We all know what they do.