Rex Murphy,
I've always enjoyed you as host of Cross Country Check-up. You treat almost all callers with courtesy and decency.
But in writing columns - I never read them before they were "unlocked" - I realize you truly are something of a Jekyll and Hyde character. This piece is silly blather: wordy, pointless, and stained with envy.
Obama is not responsible for the immense response he generates in people, nor does he display the least indication of hubris in his reactions. The man is genuinely gifted: intelligent, graceful, thoughtful.
He achieved the remarkable feat of defeating a woman who had name-recognition and connections second only to George Bush, an accomplishment still not fully appreciated.
After 8 years of the most incompetent man ever to hold the office of President, a man whose every utterance causes millions to scrunch-up their toes in intellectual pain, the world is eager for a man of this quality to assume power.
When I compare Obama to McCain, the first adjectives that come to mind are "fresh" versus "tired." After that, there's "bright" versus "mediocre." "Polished" versus "beat up." "Informed" versus "uninformed."
I'm sure he will win by a surprisingly large margin.
My God, he strode across Europe like statesman, impressing all who saw him. All McCain's sad bunch could do was put out garbage about photo-ops and shows.
Clearly, you belong to their whining, unimpressive gang.
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"I don't recall JFK or FDR, the most popular presidents since Washington, being aw shucks shrinking violets."
Yes, indeed.
Read Harry Truman on Roosevelt. The man, likely the most gifted leader the U.S. ever had, was an ego-maniac.
Putting oneself forward to lead a great state, or any state, is always in part a matter of strong ego.
Indeed, in some cases, it goes beyond inflated ego into narcissism and even to a low-grade psychopathy.
Some of Kennedy's behavior, and Lyndon Johnson's, suggests the last condition. So, definitely, does our charming Harper's, for that matter.
The job of voters is not to be distracted by small issues like ego - so long as it remains in the range of the sane - but to judge the quality and character of a candidate.
He or she will act as the nation's representative. In America, this involves the unfortunate double role of head of government and head of state.
Even many issues are not that important. Politicians often ignore their promises or fail in efforts to implement them.
Look at McGuinty's shabby record of promises in Ontario. Look at Clinton's failure to implement almost anything worthwhile.
