ObamaMania!

Like a vision of a god, the average American witnessed a burning Bush spewing forth new laws and direction. The result of which was Barack Obama riding into Washington on the back of an ass.

Within the day of Obama’s inauguration, books, DVD’s, music CD’s, magazines and newspapers hailed Obama as the man who is going to fix the world! If this was only just an exaggeration. All you have to do is walk into a music store or bookstore in Canada and you would think that our flag is the stars and stripes and not the humble maple leaf.

Canadians are reading books like, “Dreams of my Father: A story of Race and Inheritance”, “Words on a Journey: The Great Speeches of Barack Obama - Special Inauguration Edition”, "President Barack Obama: Change Has Come To America. His Words - His Promises”, “Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope”, “Barack Obama: What He Believes In - From His Own Works”, “Change: Barack Obama's Plan to Repair the U.S. Economy.” You can find in audio the CD “Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise”, and the DVD “Obama All Access/ Road To the White House.” Yes, it appears as though people may have a case of ObamaMania. I saw these titles in two books stores and one music chain this past weekend.

This fascination with the man appears to be not just limited to North America, these same books are published in German, French and Spanish. However, the big question here is why Canadians are so gravitated to American politics, and in particular Barack Obama.

Let’s put the obvious aside and make some observations.

Yes, the man is considered black, African American or even negro, take your pick, it depends on when you were born. The USA has always been considered an unenlightened nation of rednecks, racists and warmongers. So a democratic black man in office is even a bit more of a stretch. These two facts alone may justify seeing a flurry of media as a result of winning the presidency. But whether Obama is black, Democratic or from Mars, the man is just that, a man, nothing more and nothing less.

But the press, media promoters and a slew of backers are hailing him as the messiah not only of the USA but also of the World. I don’t think I have ever witnessed in my time hysteria at the election of one man as we are seeing today.

As one fella said to me as I was standing in the aisle of Indigo Books, “But dude, he is the head of the most powerful nation in the world, of course he will have to save it!” I looked over and saw this pocket-torn teenager shrug his head at me and walk away. I really have to develop an inner monologue when in public.

Lets put ourselves in Obama’s shoes. He is walking into office with his nation fighting a war on two fronts, all the while poking at a third, Iran. Even before the global economy tanked, the American’s were in debt over their heads. People are losing their houses and the private banking structure in that country is coming to their knees. Pressures from left-wing interest groups are pushing for rapid development of alternative technologies that will crush previous stable industries that the USA requires to recover their economy.

He has inherited powers that have put eyes and ears into private homes without legal protection to its citizenry, a power that has been in question ever since Bush pushed ahead with laws to empower the “Department of Homeland Security.”
He has inherited the largest terrorist day-care facility on the planet, with no due course to deal with the men arrested in Afghanistan and Iraq who were taken out of those countries to the island of Cuba. In short, he is walking into a real mess.

So what fascinates Canadians with Obama is therefore pretty clear. It’s the situation that man is in. Like a crowd gathering at a car wreck the world, including Canada, is waiting on the sidelines to see if he will truly become a ‘superman.’ Only Obama himself knows the fear he is hiding at his plight.

Whatever Obama’s agenda may have been, he has inherited an America nested with Republican elements, with a war room entrenched by people fighting for 7 years. He is one man alone and certainly not the messiah. He is only one man, who against the odds, was elected the President of the United Sates. A man, who right now is carrying the ‘football.’