Most cults don't last eight years, which means even more confused pain upon its dissolution. The fact that adherents of America's presently in-vogue sect had a chance for freedom and instead signed up for another spell of blind fealty means they merely deserve more scorn for weakening their minds enough to allow a charismatic doofus access to everyone's checking accounts. Signing over one's service and possessions to Barack Obama for one billion years was a slightly less favorable deal than the Solyndra loan.
As for those who cobbled together enough fellow believers to postpone adjusting to life outside the compound, they will spend another term walking about dazed that the leader hasn't lead us to a higher plane of enlightenment. Empty-eyed minions will then be vaguely aware how they deserve to be shunned for buying all the painfully inoffensive yet creepy collectivist slogans, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve every instance of condemnation.
Always remember who attempted to hector you into supporting the creepy faceless icon even if you're willing to forgive them. The Myspace bulletins containing the hideously self-righteous video of jackass celebrities earnestly reciting the tortuous incantation of “Yes we can” will sadly always define 2008. But his shtick was tired even then for anyone cynical enough to have observed five minutes of human behavior. For so many to have fallen for it again explains why Bruce Springsteen's career won't go away.
Proponents of groupthink as a campaign platform condemned what they viewed as reckless individualism by being smarmy enough to feel as if they were improving the world by wearing “HOPE” shirts. We still must wait for the moment when society recognizes such incredible self-importance as profoundly obsolete.
The era of unrequited positivity resulted in a most unctuous attempt to rescue the economy through massive currency shredding. Cloaking such uselessly harmful tactics in language promising eternal Earthly happiness should be as dated a phenomenon as ordering one's top 24 friends.
Sadly, even a torrent of presidential buffoonery failed to help the pallid henchmen realize that Obama wasn't trying to unite us as much as he did supporters for his brand of statism. Discovering he was a leftist all along is a twist suitable for the next increasingly disappointing M. Night Shyamalan film.
His record as the most liberal senator was available to anyone interested in examining his candidacy beyond what Shepard Fairey claimed. It was entirely risible that America's primary extreme partisan would unite us. But no objecting at the moment announced by the officiant was going to stop the dysfunctional marriage between a conniving deadbeat and the besotted bride.
As with embarrassed purchasers of limp GM cars, one-time Obama voters may just feel reluctant to admit how they were suckered by his frighteningly soothing words. That only makes them marginally better than the truly twisted true believers who supported him precisely because he was a budding leftist icon.
Those who are aware that hating the rich doesn't end poverty should have withdrawn their membership upon realizing the disastrous impact of actually enacting his policies. But some are just sweet enough kids to actually believe their ideas.
Instead, they will retain their satisfaction with pleasing words over useful actions. Of course, people who think state-ordered insurance will increase our healthiness while cutting costs are necessarily more interested in talking than doing, as their ideas are so swell that evidence is unnecessary. As for the man at the pyramid's point, someone who says they'll fix everything likely never invested enough time to learn how to fix anything.
Don't expect apologies from those seduced by a big shot who neglected to do what he said he would because of how unkind reality is to sugary nonsense. It's not as if he was completely immune to the melodious claptrap he spewed. The most arrogant president possible claimed that his country would be great once it apologized for its identity; we just had to stop excelling no matter the venue's size. You may find it hard to feel sympathy for a hugely wealthy man who blamed our problems on rich people, perhaps because he envied how many of his fellow multimillionaires actually earned it.
While you may feel eager to rescue a pod person, please recall that deprogramming may not be successful. Dealing with a cult of no personality may not be dangerous, but it is quite annoying.
The dreadfully oblivious types who measure politics by how much love they perceive candidates radiate still persist in thinking Obama is wonderful because his intentions are good. Even worse is what he and they think of as honorable behavior, as if being nice to Earth's murderous bastards would make us safe just like condemning America's best earners would make us prosper.
They didn't learn despite four years of evidence that grade-school hopes for worldwide cooperation and sharing are not obtainable in the Land of Grownups. Expect them to keep joylessly explaining why we're just not sophisticated enough with facts and logic to know why Obama's been a resounding success for reasons other than fads and mooching. Spot them by how they they continuously talk about how they employ rational thinking in a totally not insecure display of their intellectual prowess.
Those tasked with eventually cleaning the toxic sludge may grudgingly forgive those who fell for it once and repented while shaking heads at former comrades who re-upped. But those who doubled down on failure and still refuse to accept that the next president will actually inherit a seemingly unapproachable mess may maintain their pathological determination to ruin every conversation and relationship.
With that in mind, governing well is the best revenge. The prospect that cultists will eventually have to reside in a reality repaired from the catastrophic damage inflicted by their savior will be punishment enough.
Anthony Bialy is a writer and “Red Eye” conservative in New York City. He tweets at http://twitter.com/AnthonyBialy.
