Letters to the Editor
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Rove and Bush
Does anyone remember that Rove nugget about the first time he met Bush...something about how he had a skoal outline in the back pocket of his jeans and how he was the most charismatic individual Rove had ever met? I'd love to get the exact quote if anyone knows it...
That being said, I actualy found the Obama chant in the background slightly disturbing. And on a visceral level I don't like the way the video parades only slick and glamorous celebrity people of color. Is he running for the president of MTV or the US? I am excited about an African American within an inch of the presidency, but every day that excitement fades, replaced with a slightly queasy feeling. Everything in our culture is so packaged and so bereft of integrity or honesty, that I'm afraid I'm starting to believe that it won't make any difference having an African American running this place.
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Maybe because...
Maybe because your essay put the power of suggestion in my mind that I should be looking for something negative, so when the video started with the chant "Obama...Obama...Obama..." I could not help but think of the "Two Minutes of Hate" citizens of Oceania chanted in "1984" to work themselves into a frenzy against Emmanuel Goldstein, the arch enemy of Big Brother. I'm certain this was not the intent of the video and as the film progressed that image dissipated from my mind.
I'm not sure that's what Lowry had in his mind, but the opening of the video did have an eerie cultish feeling about it. All emotion. No reason. And that is something to be concerned about with any leader, as you wisely point out regarding the right's slavish adulation of our current president.
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here's the actual distinction that makes it scary for them ...
Bush et al want followers. Obama wants participants.
There's nothing, nothing so frightening to the people currently in charge than the possibility of a motivated and informed citizenry.
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someone just made this point but...
Without even hitting the play button on that link, and just looking at one fuzzy image, isn't it sort of obvious what conservatives find scary about that video and about Obama?
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The only thing the chanting reminded me of
Is the fact that he needed to run in this cycle instead of waiting four years because Obama Oh Eight is so much catchier than Obama Twelve.
I couldn't help notice though that "we are the ones we've been waiting for" reminds me of "we are the people your parents warned you about" so I guess that is sorta scary....
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Uprising
The video...to the plutocrats long running the country by oppressing, abusing, and manipulating the average American see this video as one thing: uprising.
Rightly or wrongly, people have latched onto Obama as the long awaited figure that can lead them. The one thing the plutocrats fear most is someone that can unify the masses.
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Glenn, don't forget...
...the billboards that were put up of George W. Bush that had a big picture of him with the words, "Our Leader."
I don't want Obama to be subject to that level of idolatry at all, but I don't see any reason why people shouldn't be enthusiastic in supporting him. It's pretty sad that his opponents are trying to make supporters feel bad just for liking the guy and the message of his campaign.
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Nuremberg part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMqdUFfxhNI
Regarding parallels with the above clip of the Nuremberg rallies, I don't think for one moment that anyone who had anything to do with making this video had any awareness of that, but perhaps THAT is what is scary--the loss of any sense of history.
Demmocrats are certainly not the only ones guilty of this. In a video clip here veteran left wing British politician Tony Benn (as seen in 'Sicko') absolutely SPEARS John Bolton, pointing out that he fought it World War II and his own brother died fighting for freedom and that after the war the United Nations was set up precisely so that wars between nations with massive numbers of deaths would not happen again. Worth a few moments of your time, but watch to the end.
Bolton has no comeback.
The video is called Tony Benn Beats Bolton to a Pulp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZLGHy2WS_M
This would be a much better video for Obamaites to use versus Hillary.
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no you can't
the parody response to yes we can
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gI7WwY4a9ro
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There's lots for conservatives to be scared of
The me and you, not the corporations and lobbyists line is anti-U.S.Chamber of Commerce stuff. The diversity and an ad obviously pitched at young people is a reminder that young people are voting this year. The end the war line, the actual use of the word 'peace' in a candidate ad.
All of that indicates that the huge toy chest of Republican nasty toys might not work too well this year. Nobody's afraid, war isn't selling, the young people are going to vote, and kicking John Edwards out on a threat didn't keep the corporations and lobbyists safe. Add that to the fact that no matter how much the press would like us to believe the long primary hurts the Democrats, the only thing getting less coverage than Iraq is the Republican presidential candidate because of it, and all the hussein/madrassa/islamo right wing suicide vests are fizzling like wet firecrackers. And omigod, Hillary Rodham Lillith Bathory Clinton is Undead and still in the race!
That funny bubbly noise is a thousand swift boats going down. What's not to fear?
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Utopian Turtletop
As a strong Obama supporter who is horrified at the turn our country has taken over the last 7 years, I still found that rhythmic "Obama, Obama" vaguely creepy.
Like I said, I am no fan of that video. The opposite is true. I can even accept "vaguely creepy" as a reasonable reaction, though I wouldn't say that.
What's the last presidential campaign that didn't hold rallies where people chant the candidate's name? These videos are obviously aimed at a certain segment of voter -- young, hip-hop-music-loving, celebrity-interested -- and it's designed to have that vibe.
I do think, though, that you put you finger on a major source of the fear the Obama campaign, and this video, strikes in their hearts:
What's nerve-wracking to the neos is that this groundswell of support for Obama implies -- deep in their heart of hearts, where it is dark and unpleasant and they'd rather not go -- that just maybe, something is about to go horribly, horribly wrong with the neoconservative dream.
When you get this many people this angry, and they say "You know what, screw you, we're making a 180-degree turn" it kind of forces a reappraisal of what you're doing. At least I hope it does. I suppose the Rushes, Seans and Bills of the world will continue their same rant.
I think that's exactly right. The idea that a cross-section of Americans are going to actually start being engaged -- especially the ones who are angry about what has been done for the last eight years -- is what scares them the most.