The Sun-Sentinel's front page is a giant picture of the scene at Grant Park in Chicago during Barack Obama's election night speech. The headline: "Great expectations."
Maybe, maybe not. Only the GOP/Fox News cronies are trying to create this kind of Obama-Messiah comparison, as if he's going to do miracles to fix this very messed-up planet. They hope that building up the myth will make it easier for them to pop Obama's balloon prior to the next election and reap great public discontent.
Most people know Obama isn't the second coming. I think the main feeling that swept across America when Obama won the election was simple relief. After eight years of the cackling incurious inarticulate spoiled criminal George W. Bush, it looked like was we were getting a real president. Then he spoke as president-elect for the first time in Grant Park and he was ... intelligent ... thoughtful ... humble ... almost human-like. I don't know that I wept (Michael Mayo did) but tears did well up in my eyes and they were shed across the country. It had been so long, so so long, since there was somebody leading this country who made sense to us, who we recognized as someone who shared the same interests and hopes as we do.
Is Obama going to be some panacea for all our ills? Hell no. Things are going to get worse before they get better. I expect that his popularity ratings are going to tank at some point. The problems, especially concerning the economy and world stability, are so massive he'll likely have some spectacular failures.
There is a big difference between expectations and hope. While the outgoing administration dealt almost strictly in fear, Obama gives America hope. And that could make all the difference in the world.
-- Speaking of fear and hope, it looks like South Florida's Jewish voter largely went with the latter, largely ignoring the Republican Party's fear tactics regarding Obama. The Sentinel's Lois K. Solomon reports the facts here. Sorry Sid Dinerstein. And you sounded so darn confident.
-- One more thing: The Pulp's email is out of service due to technical problems. I apologize for this and ask that those of you who have mailed in tips during the past week or intend to send them to: [email protected].
