Hope and Change on a Cross

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Throughout Obama's rise to power, he has been seen as the Savior, a combination of the Platonic Philospher-King and Christ.  For example, here is Rev. Jesse Jackson's response after the election:

“What Barack Obama has accomplished is the single most extraordinary event that has occurred in the 232 years of the nation’s political history. ... The event itself is so extraordinary that another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance.”

And then there is this from Micah Tillman, a lecturer in philosophy at the Catholic University of America:

But he’ll do even more. He won’t just heal our city-states and souls. He won’t just bring the Heavenly Kingdom — dreamt of in both Platonism and Christianity — to earth. He will heal the earth itself.

And that, my friends, is taking the philosopher king to the next level. Only a Christian Platonism could predict what Obama will do.

We might say, then, that Obama is not only post-partisan and post-racial, but post-Platonist. The context in which he lives, moves, and has his being may have been first designed in the 300’s B.C.; but it was radically re-designed in the First Century, A.D.

And of course there are all of the photos and art with halos and worshipers on their knees:

Obama even describes himself in messianic terms.  This is from his nomination victory speech:

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Hmmm.... Obama seems to have misread the legend of King Canute.  Perhaps Ozymandias is more to his liking.

And now the inevitable chapter is beginning to play out. With Obama under siege, with his public approval ratings dropping, with vast deficits and debt, and talk of a "failed presidency", we are beginning to see things like this:

Obama is too good, too righteous.  As the modern Christ, he is being crucified by those evil people who don't understand.

Sigh.  I just hope he says "It is done" soon.

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