ManicDDaily

I dreamt the other night that Obama was resigning as President; the reason – the war in Afghanistan – his feelings of sadness, culpability for, the losses.   He did not know how to stop the deaths, but, at the same time, felt that he could not go on participating in them.

I tried to convince him to stay in office; tried to convince him that no one else would be able to do better; that his sadness and sense of responsibility was part of what would allow him to fix things.

I woke up in a lot of pain – this had something to do with some really-messed up muscles in my neck and shoulder–but also was the residue of the dream, the thought of Obama not being in a position to govern.

Yes, I know O is not as clear a spokesperson as he might be; he may try too hard to appease a side that will simply never be appeased (and I don’t mean the Taliban here, but the right wing at home.)  He may not have handled legislation in the exact right order, or with the exact right force; he may have made mistakes in pursuing the wars; he may not be the magical action figure that some (now disgruntled) supporters had hoped.

But I am deeply troubled that so many chips are stacked against him, so many crazy lies.

Sometimes it seems as if there are two very strong groups in the country – the willfully-ignorant ignorant; and the willfully-misleading informed.  Lies are thrown around like eggs on Halloween; maybe they don’t break windows but they surely cause a tremendous loss in clarity.  People, like Obama, who are dignified, judicious, who refrain from the simplistic and the kneejerk (who refrain from basic jerkdom), are great targets for these lies.  (Remember, the guy who got spat on in To Kill a Mockingbird was Atticus Finch.)

Unfortunately, the lies stain, especially when they are thrown into niches of longtime prejudice and distrust.  Apparently 20% of Americans now believe that Obama was not born in the U.S.  (His birth certificate has been publicly posted, for Christ’s sake.)  Speaking of Christ – another big chunk believe Obama’s Muslim.   (He prays every day – not necessarily five times – frequently with Christian pastors.)

It sometimes seems to me that just about the only lie that people are not willing to believe is that black is white.  I don’t mean here that all of the lies around Obama are racist; but there’s an unwarranted distrust that racism seems to promote.

It makes me despair.  It also makes me blog.  I really do want to change what I’m doing here – I’m not even a political person – but the plethora of lies and disgruntlement  seems to call for a show of support, even from a tiny little blog.