Michael Chabon: Leave Obama Alone!
Whoa! Novelist Michael Chabon (The Yiddish Policemen's Union) hits us with a little dose of crazy about Obama in a Washington Post op-ed. Basically, he's sick to death of people talking smack about Obama when they damn well know he's the best man for the job. In fact, he isn't isn't going to take it anymore! "There are many reasons not to support Barack Obama's candidacy for president," he begins, "but every one of them is bad for the same reason."
...I have nodded and looked into their eyes and hummed sympathetically as people gave their reasons and made their excuses and generally offered up, as if they were golden ingots of profound wisdom, the handful of two-penny nails with which they plan to board up the windows of their hopes for themselves, their families, their country and the world.
Two-penny nails. He's serious, too!
...I admit that I'm getting tired of listening to rationales from people who know that Obama is a remarkable, even an extraordinary politician...
In a better world, people tell me, in theory, sure, having a president like Barack Obama sounds great. But not, you know, for real... Things are so bad we just can't afford to waste our votes, people tell me, on some fantasy super-president with magical powers. We need someone electable, someone, as I have been told repeatedly in the past year, who can win.
The point is that this mess is our fault. We let in the serpents and liars, we exchanged shining ideals for a handful of nails and some two-by-fours, and we did it by resorting to the simplest, deepest-seated and readiest method we possess as human beings for trying to make sense of the world: through our fear. America has become a phobocracy.
