May you live in interesting times...

The past few months have been interesting indeed.

That we had a Canadian federal election at about the same time as the US presidential election has made for a unique situation. It's not very often we can compare the two side by side like this.

I have to admit, I have no idea how you folks in the US can put up with 2 years of electioneering. For us, campaigns are measured in weeks, not years, and that's more than enough for me! *L*

You folks in the US seem to have a completely different attitude towards your president that we have for our Prime Minister, too. The US president gets the whole rock star treatment. I know people in the US who consider meeting the president, or even just being in the same room, as a lifetime event they proudly talk about for years. Most Canadians probably wouldn't want to be in the same room as the PM - unless it's to throw pies or something. But then, I can't imagine the US president throttling protesters, either. Overall, though, our attitude towards our PM is pretty low key, and political gatherings are rather uneventful.

With the president-elect to be sworn in tomorrow, however, things seems to have risen to a whole new level. I can understand people getting excited. Especially in a crowd of like minded individuals. What I can't understand is the deification of Obama.

I'll admit to being saddened when Obama was elected. Not that he won, exactly. If US citizens are willing to overlook things like voter irregularities (even ballots pre-checked for Obama), that's up to them. Or that his "decisive win" was only a few percentage points higher than McCain in the popular vote - which actually means something in a 2 party system, unlike our own 5 party plus system; or that he seems to be all style, little substance. And what can beat the arrogance of someone who claims his victory as "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal?"

It makes little difference to me. What saddened me more than anything else is that, no matter what he does, Obama is set up for failure. People actually think he's going to save the planet - from what is debatable, but mostly in the area of "stopping" climate change. If people really believe the president of the United States has the power to control climate, they're in for some serious disappointment! If he tries to keep his pie in the sky campaign promises, he will fail. If he backs off and starts dealing with the real world, he will be considered a failure, too. He can't win.

He's not only expected to save the world from anthropogenic global warming, but he's supposed to be able to save the world's economy, too. He's even supposed to somehow bring peace on Earth while he's at it. This is not something any human is capable of.

But then, some people think Obama is more than human. There are serious online discussion about whether or not Obama is an "enlightened being," or has something called "mana." It was creepy enough to see little children sing praise to Obama during the election (that second link goes beyond "creepy" to "alarming"). Now there are children's books that have God talking to Obama (excerpts here). Oh, and don't forget the reggae song, Obama By Thy Name. Yup, even the Lord's Prayer has been Obamified.

Quite frankly, I'm finding the whole thing is getting pretty scary.