Sunday Worship: Jonestown Sunday School (Part 1)

The "Obama Baby" phenomenon provides fertile ground for discussion. Are there parallels where Republicans teach their youngsters to say "Romney" or "Perry" or "Bush" ? Not that I know of.

The phenomenon shows a schism in mental processes. I see indoctrination and a not even a little bit healthy indoctrination at that. Which is to say I am willing to keep an open mind on "indoctrination for a good cause." It goes against my grain but I am keeping an open mind.

However, indoctrination to revere and yes, even worship, a man--any man--is dangerous. To indoctrinate children to revere a petty and petulant and absurdly mysterious community organizer is creepier than any splatter film and scarier than any Steven King novel. It weirds me out in a big, big way.

But I am aware that not everyone shares my fears. If you look at the commnents on Youtube, they are overwhelmingly positive. Lots and lots of "How cute!" Of course, I was cynical long before viewing these vids and comments. But once more, these vids serve to remind us of the shortcomings of logos.

Good luck finding a single video where a baby is taught to utter "McCain." The Obots perceive this as a weakness, proof of McCain's (or anyone not named Obama) appalling inabilty to inspire. There is the saying, "Democrats want to fall in love, Republicans want to fall in line." I would agree with the first part of that slogan.

Whereas the Republicans treat the electoral process as a grueling job interview, the Democrats treat it as a rite of beatification. Reason is lost on some people. Celebrity and iconography rule the day. We might be able to persuade the chorus of "Four legs good, two legs bad" to chant "Four legs good, two legs better." It will take a lot of work but we might win a few converts.

But wouldn't that be a hollow victory? The tragedy is that some, if not most, people want to be ruled by a charming overlord. Just drink the Koo-Aid. Of all the signs and slogans of the 2008 election, none are more emblematic of the weird zeitgeist than the one displayed in a following video: "My 23 month old has figured it out...shouldn't you be able to?"

That summary speaks volumes!

BRAINWASHING IS SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE

FUTURE MSNBC VIEWERS

AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

FUTURE NYT READER (IF THEY ARE STILL AROUND)

"MY 23 MONTH OLD HAS FIGURED IT OUT...SHOULDN'T YOU BE ABLE TO?"