Little Pebbles Piled Up Make Mountains

His flag pin. Hand over the heart during the pledge? His pastor. His car (a gas-guzzling Chrysler 300 Hemi). And more. Little things can be ignored, or more often simply overlooked. But when there's a pile of them, they start to become more than the sum of their parts. The more I learn about Barack Obama -- his life, his decisions, his views, his plans -- the less I like him and, in fact, the more scared of a President Obama I become. I see a man whose past doesn't jibe with his message today -- inconsistency bothers me, especially when it smacks of hypocrisy -- but what's got me thinking this morning is something pretty simple, summative, and completely damning in my book: I don't think Obama is like me.

Let me clarify that! And not with doublespeak, either. I don't mean "like me" as in "he must share my views, my experiences, my way of thinking" in a granular, personal sense. I mean it in the bigger-picture national identity sense. Remember the original, nit-picky definition of nation: it's a group of people who share common cultural, ethnic, linguistic, historical, and/or religious bonds, and therefore identify themselves as a distinct group. That's why America is a nation-state -- the American nation, as it existed in the 1770s, fought to formalize a state (a government controlling land) to govern that cohesive nation of people. So 'nation' does not speak directly of laws, structures of government, or lines on a map. What it speaks of is foundation-level identity.

And I don't think Barack Obama shares enough of that greater American national identity to be our president. Not flag pin? Okay, I can accept part of his reasoning -- but after a stretch. Hand on heart? Huh. I guess he's interpreting our cultural traditions for himself, and shaping them into what he feels is their best for for him? Car? I can't help him on that one, especially when he spouts enviro-rhetoric. His wife's hatred of America? No way out of that one. His pastor? Ditto times about 1000. What I see, when I take him as a whole, is a guy who I don't think would smile at a 4th of July parade for the same reasons the rest of us would. I don't see him sitting down for a Thanksgiving meal and bowing his head in prayer for the same reasons -- or, considering how pro-choice he is, the same God. In short, I don't think he shares enough of our collective values to be our president.

It's got nothing to do with the fact that he's a Democrat, or black -- zero, zip, nothing at all. Our country is wildly diverse, and it really is a source of our strength -- no cultural inbreeding here, thank you very much. All it takes to be American is a work ethic and a belief in the dream...that America is a good place where people can be free and make homes and families, and where people can respect one another's differences. I see plenty of blue-collar union members who share these views. Soccer moms, too. And preachers, teachers, bankers and engineers...just people doing the work they (hopefully) enjoy and see value in, and bringing home their gains to family. So why do I think Obama is different from the rest of us?

How can you buy into the dream if you're not proud of what that dream has so far produced? If you don't, at a soul-level, accept and enjoy the little traditions the rest of us share? Either you don't believe in their value, and don't experience the little joy in being a part of them, or you think you're somehow better than them -- campy, folksy crap like that is below you. Or both. Great. That's the last pair I'd want occupying the White House -- an America-hater and a guy who thinks he's much, much better than not only the rest of us, but better than our nation.

Screw that.

Here's an article to consider.