In “I, Claudius,” the protagonist rolls his eyes at those who expected Caligula to be an improvement on Tiberius, on the grounds that any man of any quality would have been eliminated long before he would be in a position to become Emperor. Claudius uses his brother Germanicus as an example – yes, he would have been an exemplary Emperor, and maybe would have restored the Republic; no, he would never have gotten the chance.
Which brings us to Barack Obama. Can the United States elect a good man as President? Or is Obama hiding a dark side that would make Richard Nixon quiver and puke?
Nobody would picture themselves fit for the Presidency without a significant amount of incredible determination and equally incredible arrogance – there’s no other word for the type of person who says “Who has two thumbs and should be the most powerful man in the world? THIS guy!” That Obama sees himself as capable of fulfilling the promise of not only the Founding Fathers but Martin Luther King, and is willing to take on the task of washing clean this nation’s original sin – that takes some self-esteem.
If he’s up to it, Lincoln will have a buddy to his left on Rushmore.
But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. Michelle Obama isn’t the only one who has been proud of her country at infrequent intervals over the years, but last night made claims of America’s greatness finally seem like something besides idiotic bloviating meant to prove Mencken rather than Franklin. The United States of America elected a black man as President. Now, finally, we can get to work on achieving the American dream.
Of course…he might suck at the job. To my knowledge, no one ever asked what would have happened if Jackie Robinson had hit .150 and set the National League record for errors. If Obama turns out to be Jimmy Carter (who he, um, does recall in many ways, including a centrist religious stance and being the beneficiary of a detested predecessor)…that’s not going to help.
But the upside of the Presidency being the private reserve of driven egomaniacs means that any kind of wimpy, ineffectual wishy-washiness gets weeded out nice and early.
The other point is that, no, the US is not the Roman Empire, has not receded into worthless mockery of its former glory, and is not on a toboggan ride to the history’s ash-heap. The past is no longer prologue. Anything is possible.
Let’s hope so. Irony died on 9/11, but came back stronger than ever. Cynicism lost a huge battle on 11/4. Let’s see if Obama can complete the victory.
One thing Obama’s victory has done – the conspiracy theory era of the United States is over. Bush will not cancel elections. The Army will not declare martial law. The Republican Party, after eight years of hideous misrule and criminal conduct, will surrender power willingly. Perhaps it’s simply because the Bush/Cheney Administration stole everything that wasn’t nailed down, and is looking forward to a peaceful retirement in Dubai. But they will walk away from power, just like Washington and Jefferson, Eisenhower, Clinton, Teddy Roosevelt and Nixon. The democratic experiment, apart from that hiccup in the 1860’s, continues.
