Monday, January 19, 2009

Bread and circuses

"Bread and circuses" (or Bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is an ancient Roman metaphor for people choosing food and fun over freedom. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses)

While the economy tumbles around our ears, and many Americans worry about whether they will have a job tomorrow, our future President enjoys himself as he is feted by movie stars and pop singers:
'Overwhelming emotion' at star-studded Obama inaugural concert

As galling as it is to have Hollywood elites patronizingly rewarding us with the glory of their presence because we happened to elect their favorite guy, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The media is utterly and completely saturated with coverage of every aspect of the inauguration. Obama's face is everywhere - on t-shirts, buttons, even defacing an American flag. Chairman Mao would envy the omniprescence and fervor of Obama's cult of personality. The $170 million cost of this Obama-worship, in a time when our government is taking on trillions in debt, doesn't make a single person flinch, it seems. Does it ever occur to anyone that this kind of adulation should not be given to any mortal man? So many have turned away from the Cross of Christ, our true hope, for the false "hope" of a man-made messiah. It seems they don't care about reality - only about good entertainment and a "stimulus check." I can't help but think of that woman who claimed that Obama would pay her mortgage. I bet she is going to be sorely disappointed when her Messiah doesn't measure up.

If my children ask me what I did at this moment of history, I hope I can say, "I did not want to mortgage your future to save my present. No, I did not vote for that man. Americans deserved better than mere bread and circuses. "

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