While this point has likely been made by some more eloquent that myself, I can't help but dwell on the similarities between two would-be saviours in North American politics. While the tale of St. Obama has yet to be told in its fulness, it has been remarkably similar to another former messianic figure from this side of the border: Paul Martin.
I loathed Jean Chretien. It was his so-called leadership that guided me in my quest towards the political right. When he announced that he was (finally) stepping aside, there were many Liberals who espoused the god-like virtues of their leader-in-waiting. Heck, there were times when I even thought that he might not be so bad. He was certainly no Chretien, and he did so some decent work with the federal budgets as Finance Minister.
What many Canadians soon found was someone who, and I can't remember for the life of me where I first heard this, worked so hard to become Prime Minister that he didn't figure out what he would do when he actually got there. He soared into power on the wings of his glorious promises. He wanted to be everything to every possible Canadian. Surely he would lead the country into a new era of prosperity. Instead, he fell flat in a matter of 2 years; his opportunity squandered by his own selfish ambition.
It wasn't that long ago when a euphoric citizenry propelled The One into power on promises that were not all that dissimilar from our very own Prime Minister. And while his support remains high, the questions appear to be coming more frequently. Instead of the glowing reviews I got so tired of seeing on a daily basis, I read more and more questions about the ability of Mr. Obama to actually lead the United States through this economic crisis. It would appear that the power of his promises is beginning to lose steam as reality has slowly returned to the masses.
It's still early in his term but I am not expecting miracles from this man. I never did, to be honest. While I don't necessarily want him to fail per se, I am hoping that his ability, or lack thereof, to actually enact the change he promises will wake people up to the very nature of the philosophy he and his admirers cleave to. Society cannot thrive on the mere peddling of easy answers to the public.
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3 comments:
My 15 year old son commented to me today that "Obama wasn't doing so good". That sums it up for me.
Not to mention the number of his nominees that have gone done.
Martin for me, was Mr. Dithers. Obama seems to want to implement a socialistic agenda.
Also my husband is an economist and he believes Martin was vastly overrated as finance minister and solved his problems by downloading them onto the provinces and municipalities, plus inheriting the fruits of NAFTA and the G.S.T.
You bring up a good point, Anon. Martin DID download federal obligations onto the provinces and municipalities and was able to post some big numbers as a result. Not that the move was necessarily bad, but it demonstrates how easy it is to be distracted by numbers with dollar signs in front of them.
Kind of a my-dad-can-beat-up-your-dad sort of move. "Check out my surplus..."
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