Lincolnish

You know, I never disliked Barack Obama. Really. Even as a libertarian, even though I basically feel that he’s a socialist in progressive clothing, I never had a negative word about him as a person. Hell, I was crossing my fingers for the man to win against Hillary Clinton, after Mike Gravel dropped out of course, because he seems like more of a uniter, where as Ms. Clinton seems much more divisive, even among her party members, let alone among others. Mr. Obama never gave me hope — the soon-to-be President, in fact, has always made me uneasy with the easy in which he can ensnare a crowd with a turn of phrase. People have used the term “drunk from the Obama Kool Ade” to describe some of his strongest advocates, and you know, I can see those similarities, I can even find both humor and discomfort in them, but I still liked him as a person. He seemed like a nice guy, a good human being, someone who wasn’t going to be a dick. Sure, nice guys who are just doing what they think is right will cause unjust wars and some of the worst fiscal damage to a nation in a century, but this nice guy also seemed to be intelligent, and nice and intelligent were a consolation for me, after the last eight years.

But these stunts — these constant reminders that he is from Illinois and is progressive and, for lack of a better word, Lincolnish — are really driving me toward disdain for our now and future President.

On the eve of his inauguration, he hosts a party at the Lincoln memorial. Before that, he took a short train ride to Washington, traveling the paty that Lincoln did. He’s a young senator from Illinois, like Lincoln. He is intelligent, as I’ve already mentioned, and rose from humble beginnings, like Lincoln.

And you know, I’m sick of the way he’s pointing to these similarities, as though he does not feel he is a strong enough personality to carve his own path through history, so he must ride the coat tails and follow the well-marked journey of one who’s successfully come before.

Well, not the exact same path, hopefully.

But, while this can be interpreted as an awkward, wavering faith in his own ability to lead, I see this as potentially something much more serious: hubris. Bravado. Showboating. It’s the kind of boastful displays that are called “excessive celebration” in football. Dallas Cowboys wide receiver T.O. is often penalized for bragging about his touchdowns in the endzone — this year, after a particularly spectacular touchdown, my favorite player in the league crouched down in a runner’s stance before taking off, ostensibly in honor of the Olympic victory of Usain Bolt. “Look at me, I’m as fast as the fastest man on earth,” he seemed to say. “Unsportsmanlike,” the refs called it and penalized the Cowboys by 15 yards.

Same situation applies.

You cannot compare yourself to someone of such stature yourself — to draw such comparisons on your own makes you look like a braggart. Let others do so — and many have called the comparison between the two junior senators from Illinois — and your detractors may come around to see the similarities and transpose one’s success to the other. Do it yourself, and it is excessive celebration, it is bragging, it is a disgusting display and makes me wonder exactly how badly I’ve misjudged this “nice” guy who seemed relatively harmless until his socialist-leaning liberal friends became a major power in congress and until he let his ego show.

Which, I add without hesitation, is something very un-Lincolnish indeed.