The Myth of the Myth of Obama

"Young people who may not be interested in the details of NAFTA or foreign policy just think Obama is cool, and they're interested in him. Being cool can really help a new president."

How do so many people misunderstand what happened over the last 11 months, culminating on November 4th? The number of ridiculous articles I've read on the "obama complex" his "messianic self-image", his "pop-culture status", hell, even McCain's "Celebrity" commercial... it truly sickens me.

So here's what happened: 61 million people did not "drink the Kool Aid". The youth of the nation did not get wool pulled over their eyes by some hip half-black man. No, this country took a long, hard look at itself, and bought into each other.

People realized that their destinies were shared destinies, their dreams connected. Not in some neo-Marxist "Obama is such a socialist because he wants to return some tax rates to where they were 8 years ago and cut the rest" sort of way, but a true, honest, recognition of the vast cultural, economic, sociopolitical web that ties all of us in this nation together.

As Wright explains in his fantastic book "Nonzero", the arrow of history drives all cultures towards increased interdependence and win-win outcomes of non-zero-sum games. The internet and globalization are the two main interances of this drive, and as such it is no coincidence that Obama is known for his utilization of the web.

The people of this nation stepped back from the last 8 years, saw what "greed is good" can do to this country, and, as has happened so often in American history, chose a new direction: one that promises what was promised to all in our declarative document: life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.