Did you watch the inauguration this week?
Sure, you did.
And so did everyone you know. And everyone they know. And everyone everywhere.
The largest human audience in the history of the planet gathered to share a collective moment, a passionate embrace with someone who we believe will make the world a better place. The vast scale and raw emotion of the moment was staggering. It was the moon-landing meets Woodstock meets New Years Eve meets the parting-of-the-Red-Sea.
Here's a character who may be the most popular human being of all recorded time solidifying his place into the collective consciousness.
Has it gone too far?
Yesterday, I had a serious conversation with an extremely bright friend where the topic was quite literally "Barack Obama is the Messiah. Discuss."
Please don't get me wrong. I like President Obama... in fact I essentially love the man.
I'm amazed at how much I do, in fact. I have newspaper clippings of him on my bookcase. I have several of his speeches permantly on view on my TiVo. I talk about him incessantly to anyone who will listen. I answer questions with "Yes, We Can".... I almost even bought the ridiculous Franklin Mint commemerative plate with his image on it.
We all have to be careful though.
Without getting too into it... Tuesday seemed like the set for the sequel to "Triumph of The Will". The passionate optimism. The nation captivated by a charismatic leader during a particularly rough time. Lengthy military parades... outpourings of love.... a man's last name becoming a fervant chant.
The "O" logo emblazed onto everything. Cars. T-shirts. Signs. Hats. Scarfs. Pins. Flags. Faces. Cereal Boxes. Tattoos. Brandings.
A nation captivated by the most charismatic figure since... well... um... yeah....
That one.
I'm going to keep believing that this is right. That we've all gotten behind something that's good for all of us. I'm going to keep believing that this is the greatest time of our lives. I'm going to believe that never before has so much opportunity been so within our reach.
We wanted change, we got it.
But if they start changing the name of O'Hare airport to O'Bama International... I might start getting a bit skeptical.
Can we all believe in a false prophet?
Yes, we can.
