Kathleen Parker comes very close...

[jbm]

I normally am not a Kathleen Parker fan, but I think her column was fairly close to target today. She described the symptoms well, but I disagree that the disease is connected to families or secularism. This leap from Jesus Bush to Jesus Obama is symptomatic of something messed up in the culture though.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/OPINION/802220314/-1/OPINION0106

<snip>
So what is the source of this infatuation with Obama? How to explain the hysteria? The religious fervor? The devotion? The weeping and fainting and utter euphoria surrounding a candidate who had the audacity to run for leader of the free world on a platform of mere hope?

If anthropologists made predictions the way meteorologists do, they might have anticipated Obama's astronomical rise to supernova status in 2008 of the Common Era. Consider the cultural coordinates, and Obama's intersection with history becomes almost inevitable.

To play weatherman for a moment, he is a perfect storm of the culture of narcissism, the cult of celebrity, and a secular society in which fathers (both the holy and the secular) have been increasingly marginalized from the lives of a generation of young Americans.

All of these trends have been gaining momentum the past few decades. Social critic Christopher Lasch named the culture of narcissism a generation ago and cited addiction to celebrity as one of the disease's symptoms — all tied to the decline of the family.

<snip>

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. Kathleen Parker can kiss my fine fat Irish ass.

For real.

[babylonsister]

2. I'm about to puke. How about the past 8 years, is there something

she might just be missing? Or the illegal occupation?? Whataputz.

[madfloridian]

3. That makes me sick to attack enthusiasm and passion as being wrong.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1849

It reeks of desperation.

[sandnsea]

4. The disease is hate radio cynicism

and the question is when did this country decide to choose disparity over opportunity.

[OhioBlue]

5. Are you serious?

Kathleen Parker?

She just makes shit up. Haven't you figured that out yet? She's a right wing hack that is attacking the Dem front runner and trying to make it look like some intellectual analysis. Here's a hint. She comes up with her result then backs into the rationale to attack Democrats. No matter who it is.

[StClone]

6. Cult of Jealousy

Kathleen I've written you on occasion calling you a shill. And my oh my how things haven't changed. What the fuck was the hero worship you had for Bush monkey huh Kathleen???

Please don't post shit like this.

[Binka]

10. No Shit. The crap she penned giddily about loyal Bush lovers was a strength then

She is rubbish and a waste of human skin. I hope she croaks in an inferno of her own bullshit. A justified immolation if there ever was one.

[malletgirl02]

15. Bush

I wonder why we never heard the word cult in regards to Bush supporters. Isn't Bush's approval rating around 19%? Now there a real cult.

[Binka]

19. Because the Corpo Whore Dogs Who Own the Media Wanted Their Shit Dog In The WH

The Corpomedia will never shit on their favorite shit dog the economy, home, job, international diplomacy, wrecker. He is a Corpo wet dream.

[anigbrowl]

7. This would make quite a lot of sense if...

the population supporting Obama were the same population as that which had supported Bush. Since ~50% of the population ever voted for Bush in the first place, and that ~50% hasn't had a candidate that they can be openly enthusiastic about in a decade, it's hardly surprising.

I'm disqualifying Gore and Kerry from the open enthusiasm thing insofar as neither of them were very charistamtic figures during the presidential campaigns. If you dispute this, just consider Gore's public persona since he returned from obscurity to promote his GW message on a world stage vs that of 2000.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Hey, so Obama is the new Elvis! What are you complaining about?

After 8 years of Bush, this is what happens when the people are exposed to clean, pure air.

[Cogito ergo doleo]

18. Exactly. What you wrote is true. "After 8 years of Bush, this

is what happens when the people are exposed to clean, pure air."

[samdogmom]

9. This is one wacky columnist. I have never found common ground in anything she writes.

She's simply not credible in my opinion. She's a right-wing hack!

[apocalypsehow]

11. So, from Rush to Sean Hannity to Dennis Miller to Karl Rove to Lou Dobbs to the denizens of

Free Republic, now add columnist Kathleen Parker to the list of right-wing sources whose anti-Obama talking points the HRC supporters are eager to "share" with us here on DU. Nice.

:eyes:

[Straight Shooter]

12. Barack Obama is an aberration on the political landscape.

I'm sure his meteoric rise from obscurity will be scrutinized and analyzed for a long time. He's certainly set a new precedent for brand marketing as a campaigning style. I expect in the future to see grocery shelves stocked with O-soda.

[StClone]

14. Arrrgh!

What the hell is wrong with being good, likable and smart?

[Straight Shooter]

17. Nothing wrong with it at all.

But he is an aberration on the political landscape, you can't deny that. He has very often been described as a phenomenon; thus, he will be studied, his campaign will be dissected to death.

And he does rely on "brand" marketing. We can "look forward" to future elections copying this technique from now on.

[fishwax]

13. It's *very* encouraging to read this

It's total bullshit, of course, and it's no surprise that it would come from Kathleen Parker. But if this is the way the other side is going to approach the Obama candidacy, it bodes well for the general election, because it drastically misreads, imo, the mood of the electorate.

And this kind of argument is nothing new. Pretty similar shit was said about Bill Clinton as a cult of personality/celebrity/et., not just during his campaign but throughout his presidency. I heard it even more when the country rallied around him during impeachment. Conservatives just can't believe that the American people would rally around a democrat in that way, so they have to ascribe it to cult of celebrity, etc.

[Arkana]

16. So we should all be bitter, jaded, and cynical

because it's wrong to be optimistic.

Gotcha.

Fuck off, Kathleen Parker, and take your "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" crap with you.

[charlie]

20. Winger projection in overdrive

Is she going to pretend there was nothing unusual about 16 of the LAST 28 FUCKING YEARS? It was Republicans who pioneered the art of sliding genial imbeciles into the presidency. Guys who eschewed serious talk for cornpone homilies or a beyond-dumb belaboring of the obvious ("Egypt is a country. It's in the Middle East. I have a relationship with its leader. A good relationship. We talk all the time... I'm the decider"). Who tapped the yearning for an authoritarian daddy / beer buddy / Way Bitchin' President to capture votes and the cultic devotion of their idiot hordes.

Culture of Narcissism? Lady, you fucking invented it.

[LadyVT]

21. Great post. Thank you.