Obama is Not The Messiah

Published in Oriental Morning Post
(China) on 17 November 2008
by Yuan Xiaoming (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Peter Stevens. Edited by Christie Chu.
Following the results of the American presidential election, Newsweek editors Evan Thomas and Jon Meacham discussed Obama's victory with public television host Charlie Rose.

Meacham pointed out that Obama made his victory speech alone, as his vice president, wife, and children all took the stage with him at the start and later withdrew. This is rare because historically, the wife, children, and running mate stand beside the president-elect as he gives his speech.

Meacham feels that Obama wanted to face his supporters on his own. Thomas noted, more profoundly, that Obama has a kind of cult of personality, and is able to get other people to carry out his needs and make them feel gratified for helping him.

Thomas and Meacham both mentioned that during his speech Obama was looking down on a crowd staring reverently up at him. Rose said it a little more clearly, saying Obama rose up, staring down at the people from above; to Thomas, this was "a religious-like cult of personality."

There were many factors behind Obama's victory - problems with Bush administration policies, America's financial crisis, Obama's pledges for prosperity and successful campaign strategy, etc. - but Obama's mysterious personality cannot be ignored.

Oprah Winfrey, America's most famous female television host, is black. Before the election, Oprah had never publicly supported a presidential candidate; this year was an exception, because during the Democratic primary she publicly supported Obama.

Her support of Obama had considerable business risk because her audience is primarily white women who mostly supported Hilary Clinton. But Oprah cast aside her own commercial interests along with feminist ideology, believing that Obama had a special identity. At a campaign rally before tens of thousands of Obama supporters, Oprah shouted: "Is he the one?" Religious Americans should have understood Oprah when she asked: "Which man is the messiah?" Thousands of people joined Oprah to reply: "He is!" Of course, "he" is Obama.

If Oprah were only hinting at Obama's "divinity," then Obama's friend said clearly in his sermon, "Obama was sent by the Messiah." Many Obama supporters believed, as long as Obama won, all of the problems facing America would disappear.

At an election rally in Florida, an Obama supporter shouted into the camera lens: "After Obama is elected, I won't need to worry about putting gas in my car, and I also won't have to worry about paying off my mortgage." The voice of this Obama supporter is representative, to an extent.

Of course, Obama did also not disappoint the feelings of his fans, emerging from between Greek columns onto the Democratic party's convention stage to make what was more of a sermon than an acceptance speech.

Obama's "divine" charisma is not at all limited to America, but apparently has even more "world-saving" magic and charisma outside of America.

46% of American voters still rejected Obama, whereas internationally, Obama's support rate was about 90%. During the "sermon" in Germany, several hundred thousand Germans were apparently not facing an American presidential candidate. In the fantasies of many Germans, Obama was the "messiah" who would save not only America, but also the world.

This time, American voters did not again disappoint the world, which cheered and jumped for joy as Obama was elected. Facing dire straits, the world at last welcomed its "messiah." Thanks to Obama's victory, the world will completely overhaul its view of America and America will seemingly retake the moral high ground.

In a recent piece, a columnist referred to an e-mail he'd received from an American friend: "In the past, I always felt ashamed to be an American, as if everywhere you went you heard bad things about America, and the U.S. passport even became the world's most unsafe travel document. But today I want to proudly tell you: I'm an American!"

The columnist wanted to show the attitudes of a few Americans toward Obama's victory, but his friend's words are actually quite foolish, revealing the kind of delusions that Obama's victory will change everything, along with religious worship that surrounds Obama.

It's true that Obama's victory has historical meaning, but if McCain had won and left our American friend ashamed, wouldn't McCain still be the president elected by a Democratic system?

Obama will leave the world excited for a few days, but the world will not experience a profound change because of his election win. America is still a superpower, but the world cannot embrace a superpower, which is a situation Obama cannot change.

Perhaps Obama is the messiah in the fantasies of his supporters, but, in reality, he fundamentally is not.

He is nothing more than an American politician created by a more than $2 billion campaign fund, and his platform is nothing more than traditional Democratic party policy. If Obama's supporters viewed him as a traditional politician, perhaps they will not be too disappointed, but if they view him as a "messiah," they will be deeply disappointed. The world is in the same boat, consigned to its great expectations.

By the way, Obama's victory won't save Wall Street. A week after the election, the Dow had dropped by 10%.


  美国总统大选结束以后,《新闻周刊》的两位主编汤姆森和米肯与美国公共电视的罗斯讨论奥巴马如何赢得大选。米肯特别提到,奥巴马独自一人在台上作胜选演讲,而开始时副总统、奥巴马的妻子、孩子都上到了台上,后来他们都退下去了。这是罕见的,因为历史上的当选总统演讲时旁边总是站着妻子、孩子、副总统。米肯认为,奥巴马就是要一人独自面对支持者。汤姆森则更玄妙地指出,奥巴马有一种产生个人崇拜的宗教似的人格,能让别人做他要求的事情,能让人为帮助他感到欣慰。汤姆森和米肯都提到,在演讲的时候,奥巴马在上面看着下面的人在仰望他。这是一句比较绕口的话。罗斯说得更明确一些,他说奥巴马升上去了,从上面看下面的人,这无疑是对汤姆森“产生个人崇拜的宗教似的人格”的补充。

  奥巴马能够获胜有许多因素,比如布什政府的问题、美国的金融危机、奥巴马的黑人身份、奥巴马在福利上的许诺、成功的竞选策略等等,但奥巴马有神秘色彩的人格更不可忽视。美国最著名的女电视主持人温芙瑞是一名黑人,在本届大选之前,温芙瑞从来没有公开支持过总统候选人,今年是一个例外,在民主党预选期间,温芙瑞就公开支持奥巴马。温芙瑞支持奥巴马有相当大的商业风险,因为她的观众大多是白人女人,她们大多支持希拉里。但温芙瑞抛开了自己的商业利益以及女权主义者的理念,相信奥巴马有一种特殊的身份。在奥巴马的一次竞选大会上,温芙瑞对数万支持者大喊:“他就是那一位吗?”有宗教情结的美国人应该理解温芙瑞问到的“哪一位是‘救世主’(Messiah)?”是什么意思。温芙瑞与数万人一起回答:“他就是!” 当然,他就是奥巴马。

  如果说温芙瑞是在暗示奥巴马的“神性”,奥巴马的一位朋友在他的讲道中就明确地说:“奥巴马是上帝派来的救世主。”许多奥巴马的支持者相信,只要奥巴马当选,美国面临的一切问题都会消失。在佛罗里达州的一个竞选大会上,一位奥巴马的支持者对着电视镜头大喊:“奥巴马当选后,我就不用为加汽油担心,也不用担心支付我的房子贷款。”这位奥巴马支持者发出的心声应该有一定的代表性。奥巴马当然也没有让他的支持者在感觉上失望,民主党的大会台上有希腊式的柱子,奥巴马似乎从天而降,他不像在做接受候选人提名的讲话,而像是在作一场布道演讲。

  奥巴马的“神性”魅力并非限于美国国内,似乎更有拯救世界的魔力,甚至在美国以外显示出更大的魅力。美国仍有46%的选民拒绝了奥巴马,而在世界范围内,奥巴马的支持率却在90%左右。在德国的“布道”会上,几十万的德国人似乎不是面对一位美国总统候选人。在许多德国人的幻想之中,奥巴马不仅是拯救美国的“救世主”,而且是全世界的“救世主”。这一次大选美国选民没有再让世界失望,奥巴马当选,世界欢呼雀跃。面对困境,世界终于迎来了“救世主 ”。由于奥巴马当选,世界彻底改变了对美国的看法,美国似乎重新获得了道德的高地。

  近日,一位专栏作家在一篇关于奥巴马的专栏中提到,他收到一个美国朋友发来的电邮:“从前我总是为自己身为美国人而惭愧,仿佛去到哪里都会听到说美国的坏话,美国护照甚至成了最不安全的旅行文件。但是今天我要骄傲地告诉你:我是美国人!”那位专栏作家要以此来说明一些美国人对奥巴马当选的态度,可他朋友的说法却非常愚笨,显示出那种对奥巴马当选就会改变一切的妄想,更显示出对奥巴马宗教似的崇拜。没错,奥巴马当选有创造历史的意义,但如果麦凯恩获胜,这位美国朋友感到惭愧的话,难道麦凯恩就不是民主制度选出来的总统?

  奥巴马会让世界激动几天,但世界并不会因为奥巴马的当选有什么本质的改变。美国仍然是超级大国,而世界不可能热爱一个超级大国,奥巴马改变不了那样的局面。也许奥巴马是支持者幻觉中的“救世主”,但事实上奥巴马根本就不是。他无非是20多亿美元竞选资金打造出的美国政客,他要执行的无非就是传统的美国民主党政策。如果奥巴马的支持者仅把他当成一位传统的政客,也许不至于过分失望,但如果把奥巴马当成“救世主”,非得失望到底。世界也是如此,对奥巴马不应寄予过高的期望。顺便提一句,奥巴马的当选并不能拯救华尔街。奥巴马当选后的一个多星期,道琼斯股票指数下跌了百分之十。
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