Peter Sellers "Being There" was a hilarious comedy of an accidental Presidency. An obscure recluse for life decides to step outside in the world and finds himself campaigning. A comedy of errors ensues and his every word is interpreted to be more profound than it was intended. The audience, hearing the candidate from a distance, separated by a wall of mass media is enthralled! The actual person happens to be an empty suit bumbling along step at a time and eventually into the White House....I remember the movie almost twenty years after I saw it.
Barack Obama's path to Presidency seems so much like the movie. An unknown person till last year, he has already gained worldwide fame. He got a series of lucky breaks along the way as his opponents in elections floundered following scandalous revelations about them. Now he is talking about change and the crowd loves it. The reality of his traditional liberal views be damned.
He addresses the Jewish community and lies that he would take a firm stand against Iran. In the Senate, he opposed characterizing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. He invokes the memory of Reagan, of all people, to describe his stance. It would be hard to find a contrast as stark as Ronald Reagan and this impostor. Yet, the Jewish community is solidly Democratic.
Regardless, the poll numbers suggest that he is going from strength to strength. The foul mood of the electorate will, in all probability, propel him to the Presidency. Hey, where are all the comedians.
