And Obama Wept (ABC News on the Obama cult)

[comfycouch]

Inspiration is nice. But some folks seem to be getting out of hand.

It's as if Tom Daschle descended from on high saying, "Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of Chicago a Savior, who is Barack the Democrat."

Obama supporter http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/05/barack_obama_is_not_jesus/#more">Kathleen Geier writes that she's "getting increasingly weirded out by some of Obama's supporters. On listservs I'm on, some people who should know better – hard-bitten, not-so-young cynics, even – are gushing about Barack…

Joe Klein, writing at Time, notes "something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism" he sees in Obama's Super Tuesday speech.

Read the rest...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/and-obama-wept.html

[Orrex]

1. Well, I came on board when he cured my leprosy

And you should see what he does with a few loaves and fishes.
:eyes:


Candidates will always have some supporters whom other supporters will deem to be out of the mainstream. That's how it goes.

Anyone making hay of this simple fact is grasping at straws, if you'll forgive the mixed metaphor.

[glowing]

8. Nah, the speeches are overboard... Its preaching.. a lot of people

these days haven't even been in a church or haven't been in a "lively church" to realize he's a preaching.. and that's what's going on.

[Orrex]

9. That doesn't mean that he's a cult leader

Numerous public speakers invoke a certain tone and diction to breathe extra life into their speeches. Howard Dean is among them, for example.

In any case, a charismatic speaker doesn't mean that his supporters are cult-like, though--as I mentioned--any large group of supporters is bound to include a far-out contingent that might excessive or out of touch.

[glowing]

10. Depends on your definition of Cult...

How many people who are supporting Obama remember Before Bush... If you are just turning 18, 19, 20.. how much do you really pay attention? I know your not.. I was 22, graduating, sitting on the floor hallway waiting to sign up for spring semester (my last) and hearing the news about Gore's "loss"... Never knew that moment was a turning point in my own personal career... The jobs I was looking into were gone by the time I graduated due to Bush...

Politicians are not saints, saviors ... they work for us.. No swooning, falling, screaming, fainting should be going on.. This man is asking us for the job.. Not the other way around. Bush did the same thing.. the media followed his every move and cut into rally's.. He spoke like a unifier, but made cheap, snarky side-comments... He doesn't think he owes us any explanation.. and for the last 7 yrs has run the WhiteHouse in that manner... Obama is similar in style.. "managing" the departments, but letting them really have full control... Not what I'm looking for in a representative of a govt that is supposedly ran by us, the people..

Power to The People.. Fuck, Obama or any other larger than life ego who doesn't get it.. If he starts a rally leading a chant like this, then I'll believe him.. Right now, he's doing exactly what Hitler did in Germany.. and the dissillusioned populace falls for it hook, line, and sinker.

[Orrex]

12. LIke Bush? Hitler? Really? WTF?!?

So, in essence, your argument is "a candidate should blandly address the issues, or else that candidate is a cult leader," right? Or is your argument "either you're old and wise, or you're an Obama supporter" instead?

Politicians are not saints, saviors ... they work for us.. No swooning, falling, screaming, fainting should be going on..

No one is claiming that the opposite should be true. And if supporters become emotionally charged in the wake of a moving or exciting speech, is that the fault of the candidate? Well, then, you can condemn pretty much every candidate who's hit the trail in the past few decades, which you are free to do, of course.

But to single out Obama as being guilty of the cynical crowd-exploitation that you describe is to trivialize the campaign process. Which you are likewise free to do, of course...

[MinM]

13. Who is Jake Tapper?

The Villagers see passion for a candidate...and decide it must be "a cult"

Jake Tapper is an ambitious Philly-area kid who parleyed a date with Monica Lewinsky into early admission into the Gang -- now he's ABC's chief political correspondent and when he sees the excitement generated by the Obama campaign, he can only think of it as one thing: A cult..

One mystery solved. Now the next big mystery -- What's the function of comfycouch? :sarcasm:

[glowing]

14. I can only point out what I see in terms of the history of the world

as I have learned, and seen.. I'm only 28... not too ancient yet...

I wish you all the best in learning and using critical thinking skills.. I know they aren't taught these days, so you might not know what that means..

[Orrex]

15. Is that snark I smell? Or an attempt at it?

Playing the age card from either direction doesn't impress me, nor does an invocation of critical skills from someone curiously eager to draw comparisons to Hitler.

Best of luck in rooting for your non-charismatic, stick-only-to-the-issues candidate, whoever the hell that might be.

[glowing]

16. Hitler, too, studied history, and picked the things that worked for him.

He was a grand orator.. who captured his audience in a trance... who used nationalistic pride and God-like imagery to captivate and motivate people to do and be something they thought otherwise.. those who thought twice about it tried to warn, and then were shunned to silence or silenced...

I'm not saying Obama is about to open up the Gulag or whatever... but I doubt that he is, if elected, going to actually be running the show. And the Obamacans.. that was a little odd if you think about it..

When he starts pumping his fists in the air and saying "Power to The People", I'll believe he can be my leader.. I'm not a Obama-anything.. I'm me a citizen still.

[Usrename]

20. Too bad Jesus and Ghandi were so charismatic...

if they weren't so damn charismatic they could have cared more about people...

[glowing]

22. Wow.... now I'm really scared.

[Prophet 451]

25. I think he is

Albeit, not by his own making. The nature of modern politics, being so about personality, means there is always a danger of that personality becoming a cult (you can see it to a great extent with Reagan). That's not Obama's fault, he has to deal with the system as it is and there are a certain number of Hillary backers who fall into the same camp but when you add in someone like Mr. Obama (handsome, eloquent, wildly charismatic), the near-worship of him in some quarters becomes more apparent.

I must stress again, that I don't think the cult-like appearence of some of his followers was his intention. Rather, it's the nature of modern politics. When the news media focuses so much on personalities and horse-race and so little on policies and issues, it becomes inevitible that some of Obama's supporters (not the political junkies here) will support him not because they understand his positions but because he's handsome, charismatic or black. Likewise, there are a contingent of Hillary supporters who support her not for her positions or record but because she's a woman or a Clinton or simply because she drives the right insane.

What I'd be interested to know is if Obama's "blind followers" are actually a larger percentage of his supporters than normal or if they're just more noticeable because they're younger and louder (exuberence of youth and all that).

[zanne]

27. Did JFK and MLK cure you, too?

The longer people go on about a "cult" and the longer they swallow that line "messiahnic", the more they're buying into the Republican brainwashing machine.

[ursi]

2. the funny thing is, I went to a small gathering of Clinton cult members when Joe Wilson was here

It was blatantly obviously I was one of less than 3 people in the room who were just there to see Joe Wilson. Those people (mostly older women wearing huge diamonds) descended on my like vultures. Scared the crap out of me.

When I finally got out of there, I thought about it and remembered I'd felt the same way when proselytizing cult members of Moonies or Children of God followers had me trapped on the sidewalks of Seattle a couple of decades ago.

Frightening cuz they were all way older than me at the Clinton gathering.

[Eurobabe]

3. another low post count Obama basher

No cred. C'ya! #35

[Island Blue]

4. 62 posts in ONE DAY aboard DU?

comfycouch, you should start a cult of your own. You could call it The Cult of the Rapid Typing Fingers. Adios troll, you've made my Ignore list.

[Red Zelda]

5. McInsane cured me of being a moderate

[Fovea]

6. And the bubble heads sing

do, da doo, doo, do do da doo, doo, doo doo, do da dit doo...

[tridim]

7. Gee Joe Klein, maybe there were some vocal Black church goers at his Super Tuesday Speech?

Ya think? Idiot. You know, they're alowed to vote too.

It's becoming pretty obvious that this "cult" they talk about is made up of Obama bashers, not Obama supporters. Obama supporters are enthusiastic about their candidate, Obama bashers are obsessed with overanalyzing that support. It's pathetic.

[indimuse]

11. Did Tom D really say that??!

I thought we had problems with BUSH....This shit is STUPID ...and Scary! My God...what has Barack H Obama created...OR shall I say...The MSM!

[mzmolly]

17. What about the Reagan cult? Any mention? How bout the Bush cult?

Welcome. :hi:

[mzmolly]

19. One more thing >>> "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them,

and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East." ~ GWB

No mention of this delusional, cult like BS in the MSM at that time. Pity, no?

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0630-04.htm

[Hissyspit]

18. Who gives a shit what Joe Klein says?

'm just sayin'

[Doctor_J]

21. This is the new GOP/hate radio/MSM meme

Obama supporters are a cult. Just keep it going - that's what they're hoping for

[secularvoter]

23. Politics is about two things....

1) Its about policy

2) Its about getting supporters to enable you to implement those policies.

The reality of human society is that you don't necessarily accomplish objective #2 by explaining the details of #1.

This is a somewhat sad reality, but a reality nonetheless.

I've looked over Obama's policy positions, and I approve of them to a greater extent than I approve of those of the other candidates on the field (on either side). Given that, I don't care how he preaches or if he is inspiring people through sermon like speeches, as long as he gets the votes.

You can't accomplish #1 without first accomplishing #2, and this seems to be what Hillary Clinton has never understood and still does not understand today.

[Orrex]

24. Welcome to DU!

You crazy cultist, you!
:evilgrin:

[Dukakis]

30. no, actually she does......

a bit of a snarl in tactics as the press drooled over Bill and splashed his every word out of context....
do more research without the aid of the media-spin.......what we have to lose is 4 years of the preacher not knowing what to do without his sermon writer's help.
i'm NOT anti-Obama......i'm for change that will work, from day 1.

[Elspeth]

26. Not the biggest fan of Obama, but isn't it interesting how lots of M$M folks are

saying the same thing, especially after Super Tuesday? It's almost like they are worried that Barak might actually win the nomination.

[marcellobarrios]

28. The big shots are not saying

You will not hear Russert, Matthews or anyone up there saying this, at least until they get rid of Hillary.

[Skittles]

29. take a break, troll n/t