Obama and his political operatives have decided to rebrand those Americans now under 40 as “Gen44.” Specifically, Gen44 is the name of his “council to cultivate and empower a rising generation of leaders in the Democratic Party.”
Why the number 44? Why, that would be because Obama is the 44th President of the United States, of course. It’s all about him. As Tina Korbe writes:
Can you say, “hubris,” anyone? It’s almost like pleading to restart the calendar with 2008 as 1 Anno Obama.
Every time I think I have fully grasped the height of this man’s arrogance and the depth of his narcissism, I find that I have underestimated both.
Can anyone imagine Lincoln calling his reelection campaign “Gen16?” Obama’s self-positioning in this matter as in so many others is not that of a democratically-elected hired executive leader; it is that of an absolute monarch or totalitarian dictator.
And what of those core supporters of Obama who are willing–even eager–to submit themselves to uncritical leader-worship? How, in a free society, did we ever wind up with a considerable number of such people?
(links via Bookworm)
Actually, I think 2009 would qualify as 1 Anno Obama because he was inaugurated in 2009
Personality cults are nothing new, although this one is particularly risible.
In other news filed under the heading “W-T-F?” the so-called leader of the New Black Panthers publicly threatened to burn Detroit down at an town hall meeting.
(Link here) http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/03/new-black-panther-leader-malik-shabazz-threatens-to-burn-this-city-down-at-detroit-city-meeting-video/
Of course, my first question is “How will they be able to tell?”
Nothing surprises me with these guys. Read today the administration is trying to promote Obamacare as a “bipartisan” bill…imagine that!
Scott – I think 1 or 2 Repubs voted for it? I’d have to look it up to be sure.
Sgt – that would be categorized as “urban improvement”
Bill, I don’t think even the Maine ladies could be talked into that. There was no Republican vote for it, as far as I know.
Michael – I think you are right.
And it took all the arm-twisting and threats (and bribes) against Senators and Congressmen Reid and Pelosi could muster.
Obama told a lot of these new Congressmen that they would be more popular at home by supporting this.
A lot of them are gone now ;-)
I think Lincoln nailed it – these are the “some of the people fooled all the time.”
Flatlander, the money quote for you is “How, in a free society, did we ever wind up with a considerable number of such people?”
Lincoln’s “fool the people” dictum provides an irrelevant analysis. Of course one can fool all folks some of the time, some folks all of the time, but not all folks all of the time. But the real question, the down to reality question is, “Can one make fools of 50% plus a smidge enough of the time?”
How, in a free society, did we ever wind up with a considerable number of such people?
Friends, this is what depresses the ever-loving feces out of me – even if Obama is sent to ignominious defeat in November, there is still a massive cohort out there who’ll be agitating for Obama 2.0.
That’s what the industrious class will be facing, every day, until we die.
It has become painfully clear to me that the US has, for a myriad of reasons, elected an increasingly incompetent and corrupt group of leaders, from the lower levels to the highest, over the course of my lifetime, and certainly before that also.
I think this is a function of the growth of the state, the continuing failure of the rule of law to limit the rule of men, which is concomitant with that growth, and the intellectual weakness, and moral cowardice, of those who should have been defending and strengthening individual liberty and human rights, but instead chose faddish popularity over principle.
I believed, as a youth, that JFK and LBJ were good men and competent leaders, but was soon disillusioned, not only about them, but their successors, as one disastrous administration followed close upon the other.
Look at the history of the last half of the 20th century to today—JFK assassinated, LBJ forced to withdraw by his own party, Nixon forced to resign, Ford defeated, Carter defeated after one disastrous term, Reagan somewhat successful, but plagued by scandal, real and imagined, Bush 1 defeated after one term, Clinton somewhat successful but plagued by continuous scandals and near impeachment, Bush 2 struggling to govern amidst some of the most virulent and vituperative opposition since Lincoln, and finisheing his two terms perceived by a large part of the country to be an utter failure, and now Obama, a neophyte, untried and unexamined, elected because of Bush’s unpopularity on an amorphous promise to be all things to all people, but who has become very little to anyone except himself and his inner circle.
In political terms, my life has been spent as an exasperated spectator to a slow motion train wreck.
The result has become an attitude of indifferent cynicism, and a skeptical view of anyone who has the deranged mentality to wish to enter politics.
We were warned repeatedly by everyone from distinguished intellectuals and accomplished leaders to erudite longshoremen that we were headed for the cliff, and we continued on our merry way, convinced that the nation was strong and wealthy enough to withstand any stupidity, and cupidity, that could be thrown at it.
Well, we were spectacularly wrong, and there’s the cliff now, coming up fast.
And I read this morning on Drudge that Congress voted down Obama’s budget – 414-0 – not even the Democrats backed him.
I’ve ofter wondered, is he narcissistic, or so insecure that he tries to overcompensate with his bravado? Either way, he continues to show even after three years that he doesn’t have any executive, managerial or leadership skills.
But then, in my opinion, Rick Santorum is as much of an empty suit as he is.
Oh whoas me, it will be a lesser of two evils pick again. Why can’t we get someone who is dynamic?
^That’s Anne, not Amme (argh!!!)
Anne – I would tend to tilt towards the narcissistic column when he decides to address the nation (upon winning the election) in front of some Styrofoam Greek columns.
Maybe he thinks he is Zeus, or something ;-)
In my observation he doesn’t seem to have a confidence problem – if the world doesn’t agree with him then the world is wrong.
Veryretired,
I think a lot of the failure began with television. Nixon is thought to have lost the debate in 1960 because he would not wear makeup. The decline began there. It is now know, and completely ignored, that the Watergate scandal and expulsion from office was the work of one man, Mark Felt who had been passed over as head of the FBI and got his revenge. Reagan fixed half the problem but was blocked from the spending half by the Democrats, who ruled for another 14 years.
Michael – that and his socks were short and showed some of his leg while sitting. Think of the power of the visual medium – and then – and this other story we were discussing is unfolding – this Trayvon Martin Case – from “innocent” 12 year old originally shown to pictures of hacked Twitter and Facebook accounts that were immediately closed with his death.
Someone was trying to control the narrative by manipulating his images.
Yes, Michael, I agree to a point. Just as FDR was a master at radio, JFK was the first, great TV politician. I mean, what other President has videos of his press conferences and speeches for sale, except maybe Reagan, the other TV performer.
But the deeper causes are so much more serious, and pervasive—a philosophical and moral collapse in the face of arrogant and triumphant collectivism for most of the 20th century, the utter corruption of our educational system, a shallow and cowardly media, driven by scandal and celebrity worship, unable to delve into anything more than the simplest problems without hysterical scapegoating, and the endless manufacturing of soap opera and horse race scenarios instead of reporting facts.
The American Revolution was an intellectual and moral volcano whose effects reached around the globe, and engendered an immediate and ferocious reaction from those whose entire world view rejected the individual as a primary actor, and exalted the collective.
Review the philosophers and political thinkers of the 19th century, especially in Europe, and they line up one after the other in their devaluation of the individual and their worship of the state, or the volk or the spirit or the blood or some other imaginary collective force that will animate a new utopia.
So many deluded people talk about marx as if he was something new and revolutionary, when, in fact, he was just one more incomprehensible academic who had no idea how much of anything actually worked, and was wrong from his basic conception of human nature to his airy-fairy communist utopia of stateless perfection.
The political incompetence and corruption we see all around us are nothing more than symptoms of a larger moral and intellectual bankruptcy that is finally coming to a head while we stand, mouths agape, seemingly helpless to do or say anything which will keep us from plunging into the abyss.
However, I do not believe we are as helpless as we may feel. Any society that has accomplished the marvels ours has can muster the resources and courage to overcome even these tremendous challenges.
But we must start now, each in his own way, and be as diligent and unceasing in our efforts as our opponents have been for these past decades.
Only an implacable determination to preserve the rights and liberties of the individual against any and all threats will suffice.
Wouldn’t Lincoln’s re-election campaign be more appropriately titled “GenFourScoreAndSeven”?
I for one welcome our new top-hat wearing zombie president overlords.
Actually, it was Coolidge, not FDR, who was the first radio president. I look forward with anticipation to Amity Schlaes’ book coming out this summer. Then, I hope she does one on Harding. The poor guy has been really libeled by history.
I think I would have to say that the French Revolution had more influence on history than the American. I hate to say it because the influence was all bad.
I linked to this post here: http://bobagard.blogspot.com/2012/03/are-you-under-40-watch-out-you-are.html
Bob–thanks!
Look, Obama’s solid core is the 40%+ who don’t pay taxes and want to get as much “free stuff” as they can get. All he has to do is tack on about 11% from the “fools” category and he’s locked in for another four.
The Gen44 crap is just part of the marketing campaign – the Ron Paul youth movement is going to vote for someone and it’s not at all clear it will be a rational choice.
It was an easy marketing pitch (hope and change) in 2008, but not such an easy sell for him in 2012.
My mother always said “Conceit is God’s gift to small men”.
How, in a free society, did we ever wind up with a considerable number of such people?
Leonard Peikoff asked that same question about another country in his 1983 book The Ominous Parallels – The End of Freedom in America.