How Much is Too Much? How is the Obamania Affecting You?

Posted on January 20, 2009

Whether you want to know what today is or not, you probably know that it’s the much awaited day of Obama’s inauguration. Personally, I’m a little disgruntled at how terribly saturated the Canadian media is with the coverage of this event. Just a few minutes ago, I had to turn off my favorite radio station because even they are following the trend. We’re Canadians, so what’s the big deal? Why is even the CBC falling into the pool of overzealous reporting of how great our neighbour’s new president is. I get a bit of a strange feeling that resembles when I was a kid and my friend got a much better toy for Christmas than I did. Are we such masochists that we’d rather dwell on how much better our neighbours have it than focus on fixing out own problems?

Let me remind you that we still have Hamster-face Harper as Prime Minister of our beautiful country. We all know that he’s screwing it up, yet we re-elected him anyway. People don’t seem to care enough about Canadian politics to keep the Canadian version of Bush OUT of government. Why is that? Granted, our own politics may not have the same type of charisma over here. Maybe if Dion would’ve been a little sexier and bit more suave, a greater number of us would’ve moved their bums and gone to the polls last fall. Maybe all we need is our candidates to be a little sexier? Maybe if we had an aboriginal man running for office, we could also make history?

What is the media coverage saying about the people? The over saturation is there for a reason: because people want to hear about it. It’s not the coming of the Christ… but Obama’s being treated like he is. His inauguration is probably one of the biggest “mediatized” event ever, and let’s face it… the man hasn’t even done anything yet. Let’s pace ourselves people. Imagine how much pressure all of these expectations are creating. He’s being treated like the new messiah, and nothing good can come of projecting unrealistic expectations on someone, right? Obama says “change” and every bows down to him like the king of the universe. Let me just remind you people that he hasn’t actually done anything yet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the guy. He wants to make America better, godspeed! I’m just thinking that change can be good, change can be bad. Careful what you wish for. Last time we changed parties at the House of Commons, we “changed” alright. We stepped out of the Kyoto protocol amongst other things. I’m not saying Obama’s going to do the bad change thing, I just think there’s something scary about falling into the sheep pond.

Maybe it’s because America is in such bad shape that people are being so positive about this brand new savior they have elected. Maybe they’re thinking there’s nowhere to go but up after a president like Bush. Sure. Why not? All I’m saying here is that I think that all of the pre-praise that people are putting on Obama’s back is a dangerous avenue to walk on. Maybe I’m being a little cynical here, but I like to see what a man can do before I praise him for what he “says” he’s going to do. Dreaming is nice, but he’d better put his money where his mouth is. I’ll gladly join the crowd and celebrate once he’s actually DONE something great that deserves all the praise he’s getting.

What are your thoughts about the Obama madness? Does it make you mad? Are you cautiously optimistic like me? Does it make you feel like we’re finally all saved from the big bad Bush?