Thursday, July 16, 2009

Today's lesson: Obama = Human

Earlier this morning, my eyes feasted upon an editorial cartoon that (finally) made Obama out to be less than a Messiah.
The Daily Telegraph published a cartoon which showed Obama sitting on a rocking horse which is speeding downhill. Gordon Brown is sitting on the horse, behind Obama. They are surrounded by rocky hills and approaching a sign pointing the way to "AFGHANISTAN, WAZIRISTAN, PAKISTAN." They are both wearing newspaper hats and clutching wooden kiddie swords. And Brown is saying to the Prez, "Did you think I would leave you crying when there's room on my horse for two?"
I don't agree with the Afghanistan war-slamming stance of the cartoon itself, and I'm a bit mystified as to why the right-wing Telegraph published it. The paper is far from anti-war.
But what jumped at me—actually, make that what pummeled me in the face—was seeing Obama taking heat. Because he is solidly committed to the effort in Afghanistan (so far), Obama is slowly but surely becoming a bull's-eye for the "peace and love" crowd—or paleo-conservatives who love to cry "nation-building!"
Golly, does this mean that Mr. Barack Hussein Obama is ... a human being, a mere mortal of a man? Perish the thought. What will the tye-dyed, dreadlocked crowd make of that?