Sunday, January 6, 2008

Election

The president's most important function is to shout magic incantations of self-definition, and I like Obama's phrasings better than others on that score.

I do worry that his appeal is messianic. It's usually not a good idea to allow a single individual to embody a concept, (in this case "Hope"), because of the power it grants them. However, I'm willing to take the risk and trust that good old-fashioned American cynicism will provide enough of a check against the inevitable misuse of an ideal.