Barack Obama is No Jesus Christ

It appears, barring some unforeseen miracle, that the mess that was the Democratic Party’s nomination process has finally ended and Barack Obama has emerged as the victor over Hillary Clinton.

In a contest this divisive and energized, you can’t fault Obama for being excited over his victory. One of Obama’s greatest assets is his ability to deliver a speech that resonates with a crowd, so it wasn’t surprising that his victory speech was pretty impressive.

Like most of his speeches it was filled with vague or meaningless generalities that nevertheless sound great when delivered properly. But the last few lines caught my attention because it started to sound like Barack Obama believes he is the messiah or something.

From his speech:

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.

Again, I give Barack’s speech writers major props for a well constructed speech, and huge kudos to Barack himself for a skilled delivery, but if you look deeper into these lines there is really something disturbing about how this man feels about the country he wants to lead.

1. Care for the Sick and Good Jobs to the Jobless

Don’t Americans already care for the sick? Don’t families seek out the care that their loved ones need? Isn’t there already a safety net in place to help those who can’t afford care? Seriously… My 92 year old grandmother lives off of Social Security and just had a cancerous tumor removed from her spine – the back of her neck. The doctor was hesitant to even do the procedure, but her death was certain if he didn’t. After the operation she is doing well (all things considered) but more importantly, she got the care she needed despite the fact she couldn’t pay for it.

As for the government providing jobs, the country’s unemployment rate is right around 5% at the moment. There are certainly pockets where things are worse than the national average, but the idea that the government should guarantee you a job that you (in your subjective opinion) would consider a “good job” is insane. Who will make these mythical “good jobs”? The last time the government provided busy work for the unemployed was during the great depression. While all of the park benches looked cherry with a fresh coat of paint, I think we can all agree that the Great Depression this is not.

2. The Rise of the Oceans Began to Slow and our Planet Began to Heal

I find it difficult to believe that Barack Obama will “cure” the planet when the United States does not have the ability for all of its wealth and technology to do jack without the cooperation of China, India, and other emerging countries. Considering the fact that their cooperation will require the neutering of their rapidly growing economies, we probably shouldn’t hold our breath.

I have to assume that this was an attempt to say he will lead the fight against man-made global warming (not to be confused with the scientifically proven natural climate warming that is taking place). The only way to lead in this fight is to make less energy available to the masses. That means higher gas prices, cap and trade systems, and disincentives to further fossil fuel exploration.

The American economy is built upon the consumption of energy, so if you artificially limit how much energy is available, the economy will respond with less output of goods and services. That means less corporate income, and that means fewer jobs, and less tax income for the government. How can #2 be compatible with #1? Well, at least it sounded good, Barack.

3. Ended a War and Secured our Nation and Restored our Image as the Last, Best Hope on Earth

With surge troops already coming home and more reductions on the horizon, Barack might actually be able to see the war one through. I give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt on this one. Even the most anti-war individual can certainly see that anything less than victory in Iraq will cause even more war and chaos. Some people say we shouldn’t have fought the war in the first place, and who knows… they might be right. But that’s not the issue now. I don’t think Barack will suddenly and dramatically pull the troops out of Iraq all at once.

As for the second part, I don’t believe Barack Obama can do much if anything to “restore America’s image.” I would actively debate the fact that America’s image needs restoration at all. People have been protesting, burning American flags, kidnapping our citizens, and teaching their children to hate the United States since the 1950’s. That doesn’t go away over night, and certainly not because one man is going to spend 8 years trying.

Even if he was 100% committed to working on America’s image overseas, we have tried this before. Jimmy Carter wasn’t able to do it in his 4 years in office, and leaders in the Middle East saw his efforts as a sign of weakness. In fact, they thought he was so weak that it took Ronald Reagan’s election to end the Iran hostage standoff (as well as a boatload of weapons). Reagan accomplished with diplomacy in weeks what Jimmy Carter failed at despite 4 years on the job.

I am certainly no John McCain Cool-Aid drinker, but there is certainly something familiar about Barack Obama. If he actually believes what he is saying, I have to seriously doubt his sanity. Jesus Christ himself might be able to accomplish what Barack has laid out in front of him, but Barack is no Jesus.

If he doesn’t believe what he is saying, then his speech was targeted toward bringing together a fractured Democrat Party by pandering to its base – environmentalists, people against the war, unemployed factory workers, and unions. For a candidate who represents himself as change we can believe in, this kind of pandering looks a lot like politics as usual.

Either way, Barack Obama will eventually have to get down to specifics. When he does I will listen, but I have serious reservations that he is prepared to be the President of the United States.