Man in the Mirror

I have observed a new meme over the course of the past few weeks. Barrack Obama is not arrogant. Barrack Obama is a black man and there apparently is no such thing as an arrogant black man. The reasoning behind this dictum,I have learned, is that arrogant is code for uppity and uppity is racist.

Fortunately, Webster's doesn't color code it's definitions, and according
to that source uppity means taking liberties or assuming airs beyond one's station; presumptuous; disposed to exaggerate one's own worth or importance often by an overbearing manner. I don't have an overwhelming desire to be labeled racist, yet I am inclined to be a truth seeker and truth requires examination in order to see if the shoe fits.

Does a man who boasts about himself while claiming other's accomplishments, who declares himself as an icon for his nation and has a official quasi-presidential seal constructed suggest hubris at all? Is a man, who sat in a church pew for 20 years listening to hate filled rhetoric from his self-proclaimed mentor, so haughty he believes a simple denial of that would suffice to a ignorant public whose intellect he eagerly insults? Does positing that his supporters probably wouldn't vote for Senator Clinton while hers would most certainly vote for him smack of self-confidence or of ego? How about the casual tagging of voters as bitter and spiritually needy? Is elitism uppity or is it racist? "Typical white person" anyone?

Perhaps a clue lies with his surrogates and supporters? Those of us who
unfortunately received those profane rambling emails from an angry impatient Donna Brazile definitely got a whiff of self importance. She certainly let us know how important she is by her suggestion that her one vote would make up for the the delegate votes she and the rules committee stole from the citizens of MI and FL. Indeed, Ms. Brazile informed many of us that our vote was neither desired nor required. Michelle Obama declared that this will be our only chance at sending her precious husband to the White House after she finally decided she is proud of her nation at the age of 44. The brazen Ms. Pelosi's arrogant declarations on a wide range of subjects including dismissing a dream team early on and minimizing sexism were cavalier statements especially galling coming from a woman in her position which is supposed to represent the electorate. Even the media horned in on the uppity act. We watched a self righteous Keith Olbermann "forgive" Senator Clinton for her so-called misdeeds in one of his self proclaimed special comments. Dear Dr. Dean had to hop aboard this arrogance train as well with his trivializing of rampant misogyny with his too precious for prime time words "I don't watch cable TV" rationale for failure to do his job to ensure a fair and equitable primary process. Who set the tone for this deluge of arrogance? Who made arrogance palatable?

Does Obama actually consider himself a new savior born to inherit the world? Is there any hidden humility he is able to expose? Certainly he had done nothing to discourage the image by giving that speech in Berlin; the Invesco Field staging; the new snappiness with the press; having his name and image plastered about the landscape like a Western Mao. All speak to a hyper-indulged ego with too many willing acolytes eager and able to keep it fed.

To paraphrase poet Jorge Luis Borges, has Barack Obama replaced the image of the Lord with a mirror? Has he gone beyond arrogance? I think the answer is clear.