And Barack plays on and on. . . The driving forces of Obamamania, and the power of being Barackified. . .
Our rapidly dissolving economy. Our culture wars. Our gap betwneen rich and poor. Our involvement in global conflict. Our mounting astronomical debt. The housing and banking crisis. Our transition from a downwardly spiraling Unravelling into a catalyst moment of fourth turning. The GOP's failure. Our loss of national face in Europe, and throughout the world. The illusions of the Neo-Cons. The desire for a masculine hero; not a militaristic anti-hero like W, but one from folk-legendry, an every man with the subsoil of America and the globe within him, beneath his charismatic surface. These are all reasons why Obamamania rages on.
At some juncture, a critique of media coverage of Obama, and of the public fever, is in the offing. In the best case scenario, Obamamania may be an authentic expression of public hope, confidence, and determination to solve problems; a resurgence of respect for trusted government officials; a good-faith mood of positive thinking about crisis. In the worst sense, it may be folly, irrationality bordering on delusion, a bad-faith escapism and media blitz whose aim is to deny facts of a public crisis. A mix of both is most certainly the reality.
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