“A holy man …”

The invaluable Tiberge at Galliawatch translates an account at a French blog of the scene at the Hotel de Ville (city hall) in Paris on Tuesday where the mayor grandly hosted a large inauguration party, many of the guests being American residents of Paris.The reporter heard people say things like:

” … Obama is our new prophet, he is the Messiah, he is Jesus, he is going to save America, our country will guide the entire world, he will perform miracles, I am sure that in the Bible, they must be talking about him…”

In this sugary-sacred atmosphere, it is near hysteria. The osmosis is complete. It’s a question of who will glorify Obama the most. “Under Bush, my life was sad, I was ashamed to say I was American,” confesses a white French-American woman. “Today, I live again, I’m American.” In such a devoted gathering there was obviously no criticism. The youngest among them were on cloud nine over their new idol: “Obama is sexy and handsome, we love him,” exclaimed a group of young American students.

And the French who were present? Same thing. Total adoration for Obama. Jean, a middle-aged man: “For me, the president of the U.S.A. is the future of the world and our savior, you’ll see that thanks to him the financial crisis will be settled, the Arabs and the Jews will make peace, he will give birth to a new era. Normally I don’t believe in miracles, but with him, I do.”

It is no longer a room in city hall, but a temple, filled with the faithful who have been conquered by this new Evangelist. Brothers and sisters, they listen piously. The special soiree for Obama at the Paris Hotel-de-Ville ends with music: the American national anthem resounds. The guests are silent and meditative. Some weep, others reflect, and still others smile with relief. They are blessed.

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Gintas writes:

If Obama keeps hearing things like this, he’s liable to start believing it. Then we have a religious cult.

Peter H. writes:

Is this for real? Who are these lunatics? I’ve always wondered how humanity could one day fall prey to someone like the antichrist. Well, here’s what those people say about him in Revelation: “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” Seems mild by comparison, no? The Republicans certainly seem to be mesmerized by Obama, confirming Hillary Clinton in the Senate 94-2.

So, apparently, it doesn’t take much to turn people into soft jello.

LA replies:

The question I have is, what does Obama himself think about this phenomenon? Has any reporter ever asked him, “What do you think about people calling you Christ, savior? Do you think this is healthy? If yes, why? If not, do you think you should say anything to discourage people from these attitudes?

Which leads to a deeper question: What does Obama think about himself? What is his self-understanding? WHO IS THIS GUY? Several times before the election I would list a bunch of possibilities as to who Obama is, such as messiah, empty suit, narcissist who believes in nothing but his ability to talk and charm people, radical-leftist-with-a-plan, angry black, ambivalent mulatto, genuinely nice guy, Zelig. The reality is that we are not yet in a position to reach any answer as to Obama’s “inner essence.” All we have to go by are his behaviors; we can describe and categorize his phenomenology. We know, for example, that he has a pronounced tendency to make moderate moves and gestures, reaching out to and placating conservatives. That seems to be a definite part of his political being. We also know that he consistently allows the black racialists their voice. Compare the “America must lead the world in dissolving all tribal and national differences” passage in his inaugural speech, with the “America will stand up for itself, so look out!” passage. Collecting observations of Obama’s external actions will give us an increasingly clear picture of his external self, and may also lead us to get a glimpse of his internal self as well, assuming he has one.

Obviously, anyone interested in understanding Obama has to read Dreams from my Father, which I haven’t done (the only person I know of in the entire world of opinion writing who has read it is Steve Sailer). But while it can offer important information, such as his youthful traumatic rage against the “racism” he had supposedly discovered in his grandmother, and his comment about how he had learned to avoid doing anything that would make people uncomfortable, it seems to me that his evolution has already moved several stages beyond the person he was when he wrote that book. Also, even in Dreams, he was being very selective about what he told us about himself. So I don’t think the book can tell us who he really is and what he really aims at as president.

Shrewsbury writes:

Shrewsbury has come to see the euphoria over the ascent of the god-king Obama as a symptom of a contemptible abdication of responsibility by the white upper classes; an overwhelming desire to retreat from reality and live in a liberal cloud-cuckoo land.

Shaken on the one hand by uneasiness about the present situation and by anxiety for their existence, deceived on the other by the mockery of a brilliant future as the political demagogue depicts it, a people may give up freedom and accept virtual slavery. And it may do this in the hope of getting rid of anxiety.
— Kurt Goldstein, Human Nature in the Light of Psychopathology (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1940).

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 22, 2009 03:14 PM | Send