A
\nyear ago Barack Obama was walking on water. Today he’s treading just to
\nstay afloat. A year ago his soaring oratory enraptured a nation. A year
\nlater his speeches cannot lift him passed a fifty percent approval
\nrating.<\/p>\n
How did the American Messiah become such an ordinary mortal?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
What
\nPresident Obama failed to understand is that America doesn’t do well
\nwith Messiahs of any sort, preferring self-redemption to that brought
\nby some great rescuer. Americans are a fiercely independent people and
\nquickly grow suspicious of anyone who poses as a national savior. Sure,
\nthey might get behind a knight in shinning armor for a bit, especially
\nif his charisma and cadences raise them up from a national funk. But
\nthere is always going to be a backlash in a nation that prides itself
\non being self-made, as opposed to Messiah-made.<\/p>\n
Two hundred thirty three years ago the United States broke with
\nlong-standing European tradition of treating a sovereign as a
\nquasi-divine figure. Let other nations call their kings majesty.
\nAmericans called George III a tyrant. While the French and Austrians
\nspoke of the divine right of kings, Thomas Jefferson responded with the
\ninalienable rights of the people. Ever since then Americans have
\ntreated government in general, and figures who promise salvation in
\nparticular, with deep suspicion. (And while we may worship the memories
\nof Lincoln, Kennedy, and King after their martyrdoms, in their
\nlifetimes they were assailed and criticized.)<\/p>\n
Looking back at the past year one cannot but conclude that Obama was
\ngripped by something of a Messiah complex. How else to explain a
\nPresident who fired on so many dizzying cylinders that it was a
\nchallenge to simply keep up with his vast initiatives. This was a
\nPresident who, in his first year, was going to tackle health care,
\nrehabilitate the image of America abroad, modernize the Islamic world
\nand make it more tolerant, fix the banking industry, end global
\nwarming, save Afghanistan, withdraw from Iraq, repair a shattered
\neconomy, bring Kennedyesque elegance to the White House, end the
\nMiddle-East conflict, and transform brutal dictators like Hug Chavez
\ninto huggable, peace-loving democrats through the power of his personal
\ncharm. Tack on ending global hunger and ushering in world peace and you
\nessentially have it. Obama, savior of mankind.<\/p>\n
But as Obama has now learned, it’s not the big things that
\nultimately matter to the people but the little, boring ones. Who would
\nhave thought that a man so great would have been humbled by a problem
\nso mundane as simple jobs? With one in five American men unemployed,
\nthe nation looked at the globe-trotting histrionics and wondered, do we
\nneed a savior or a simple chief executive? Who would have thought that
\nrather than making real progress on any of these vast cosmic fronts
\nObama would instead reach Messianic criteria by being crucified in
\nMassachusetts?<\/p>\n
The biggest sign that President Obama has now fallen to earth and
\ndisrobed himself of his Messianic cloak was the unbelievable line he
\nused in the State of the Union where he finally conceded his
\nvulnerability: “I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I
\ncould do it alone.” When I heard President Obama finally say these
\nwords, I was reminded of Jethro’s admonition to his son-in-law Moses
\nwhen that exalted leader also made the error of believing that
\nleadership meant performing for, rather than empowering, the people:
\n“You will surely wear yourself out both you and these people who are
\nwith you for the matter is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.”<\/p>\n
Dennis Prager often makes the point that America was founded by Old
\nTestament, as opposed to New Testament, Christians. In other words, our
\nfounding fathers, in embracing the Judeo-Christian values that became
\nthe bedrock of our republic, put more emphasis on the Judeo than the
\nChristian part. Nowhere is this more visible than in the American
\nrendering of leadership.<\/p>\n
The Christian Messiah is an all-encompassing divinity, able to bring
\nthe dead back to life, feed millions with scant resources, and redeem
\nall mankind from sin. Humanity for all its righteous action, is
\nwoefully inadequate and sinful and is therefore utterly dependent on
\nthe Christian Messiah for salvation. It is not the people but Jesus who
\nultimately does the heavy lifting. We need Christ to redeem us.<\/p>\n
But the Jewish Messiah is mortal. He will be nothing more than a
\ngreat wise man who will empower the people to believe in their capacity
\nfor self-redemption and help humanity achieve a critical mass of virtue
\nwhich will swing the world into a more perfect state.<\/p>\n
In this you begin to see the difference between the socialist and
\ncapitalist tendencies of Europe and the United States. In Europe
\ngovernment is a big uncle who ultimately takes care of all your needs.
\nIn the United States government is a safety net, helping you to get on
\nyour feet when you have fallen but expecting you to walk on your own.<\/p>\n
When I lived in England I was amazed at just how submissive to
\nauthority the people could be. True, the press is a Rottweiler,
\nsnapping at everyone in power. And the citizenry likewise drip with
\ncynicism and sarcasm toward their leaders. But it stops there. The idea
\nof a Tea Party movement to demand, say, a lowering of taxation would be
\nabout as likely as the British dropping cricket and adopting baseball.<\/p>\n
It was this aspect of Britain that drove me crazy. As an American I
\nhad been raised to make my voice heard. But at the University of Oxford
\nmany of the British students viewed the Americans as arrogant
\ninterlopers because of their tendency to make their presence felt.<\/p>\n
Little did I realize that, after 11 years in Europe I would return
\nto live in a state that somehow allowed its politicians to run
\nroughshod over its citizenry. Every day we in New Jersey read about how
\nour politicians are, aside from Illinois, the most corrupt in the
\nUnion, our property taxes the highest, our schools the worst, our
\npoliticians tone-deaf to our real needs, with little price to pay.<\/p>\n
But now even we in New Jersey are waking up and taking government
\nback. Two weeks ago we inaugurated a new governor after – finally –
\ngetting fed up of being ripped off with out-of-control taxes and poor
\nservices.<\/p>\n
President Obama should view his new-found vulnerability as a
\nblessing. He is fortunate to have discovered early enough in his
\npresidency that saviors are antithetical to the American character. We
\nwant leaders who empower us to take control of our lives rather than
\nMessiahs who tell us they know what’s best for us, even when we
\nemphatically disagree.<\/p>\n
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