Putting aside for a moment the question of whether the McCain campaign intended to imply that Obama is the anti-Christ. They clearly did intend to imply that he has a Messianic complex and is breathtakingly arrogant. Rush Limbaugh calls him Lord Obama. Jonah Goldberg asks if Obama is the Messiah. This is a common theme throughout the conservative media.
Now I'm all for mockery and parody when it's taking a legitimate point and highlighting it through humor. And it's certainly true that some of Obama's supporters have gone overboard in declaring his magnificence. Oprah comes to mind. But let's remember a few things. First, it was at the Republican Convention in 2004 that several key primetime speakers declared that we had the Lord Almighty to thank for George Bush, and these were speeches approved by the Bush campaign.
Well, you might say, those were other people saying the candidate was served up to us by the Lord. This time around, it's the candidate himself.
That's the part that's just not true. Saying that Republicans are taking Obama's comments out of context doesn't come close to capturing this. What Obama probably meant is pretty much the opposite of what they're implying he meant.
The line used in the McCain ad, a campaign memo, and on just about every conservative blog in America is Obama's quote: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."
Witnesses who attended the closed-door talk at which Obama suposedly said this have claimed that Obama's actual words were:
"It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign -- that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have just become a symbol. I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions" [my emphasis]
There apparently was no transcript but this version fits what Obama has said in the past.
After getting a rousing welcome from students in Virginia,
"This crowd is not about me. it's about you. I've been a receptacle for your hopes and dreams."...
Early in his campaign, he commented on how so many people had flocked to his campaign. "I do think that I've become a receptacle for a lot of other people's issues that they need to work out."
He's repeatedly described himself as a "flawed vessel" and said that the race "wasn't about me."
Another line often cited to show Obama's arrogance is the idea his quote that "we are the ones we've been waiting for" -- the implication being that the world has been waiting for the Obamas.
Again, read the full quote:
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
His point was that change will not come by waiting for someone else but that "we" have to do it ourselves. This is classic community-organizer-speak. Take control of your own destiny, etc, etc.
There are plenty of things to mock or criticize Obama about, both stylistically and substantively. And I have no doubt that he has a very healthy ego. But in the debate about whether these McCain ads were funny or appropriate, let's not lose sight of this basic fact: the quotes cited by Republicans to illustrate Obama's Messianic complex were taken grotesquely out of context. That ought to matter.
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If it weren't for flip-flops and falsehoods, McCain would have no campaign.
Are republicans Christians? I know of no place in the Bible that states I will see or expect another Messiah. The VP referred to the citizens of W.Va. as in-breds, and he laughed, said he could say anythng, not running for re-election. Are the republicans "The Shepherd" knowing every Christian on site. You have to accept the faith that one proclaims, God and self are the only one wo knows ones beleifs. Stay on the issues that affect Americans, keep your stupid jokes out of the media.
Bad Jim, are you aware that many of the "developed nations" that have universal health coverage routinely ration that coverage, and often deny or delay life-saving or life-extending treatment? So perhaps the panacea of universal health care is not the utopian solution people hope for.
Are you aware not aware that, according to climate experts the average global temperature has not increased for the past 11 years, and is not expected to increase until 2015 at the earliest? Even NPR has reported that we seem to be in a "global warming hiatus". This is despite the fact that there has been no change in the rate of increase of CO2 being produced. So there may be a sound scientific reason to doubt the global climate change hysteria.
Selective use of your opponent's statements is common to all campaigns, even Obama's. If you doubt that, just recall Obama's repeated distortion of McCain's "100 years" statement about Iraq. McCain clearly stated his position that we might have to stay in Iraq for a long time to help with the transition to democracy, just as we did in Japan, Korea and Germany. The Obama campaign took the comment out of context to imply that McCain was willing to be in combat operations in Iraq for the next 100 years. It was dishonest, but it was politics. Just because it is your ox being gored doesn't make it any better or worse.
I was under the impression that the Messiah comments was more about supporters. The way his supporters wear their plastered smiles, nodding at everything he says. Seems to be a psychological disorder. It's easy to believe Bush is the cause for ALL your problems and Obama will save you. Sorry to burst your bubble. Your life will still be the same--only your taxes will be higher. And if he gets his wish, Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi will have a say in your medical care. Enjoy!
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