All that Glitters Isn't Gold

When it comes to picking a President many Americans may feel, as I, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet trying to tell the real from the unreal, the truth from the lie and the person from the facade. We see what we expect and we expect what we believe. Or, we may see what we hope we could see. Let’s remove the rose glasses for a minute. Stop for just a second. Although caution may be the crutch of the skeptic, it is also the tool of the realist.

We are anxious, and maybe a little desperate, for someone to believe in. We want a person of their word that does what they say. Regardless, many of us cannot help but cautiously test the water before jumping in and supporting any candidate.

Despite being burnt by many politicians, I think that there is something deep within us that hopes we have found the one to believe in.

No doubt about it. Barack Obama inspires and this sparkle is like water for a thirsty man in the desert. Cool and refreshing. But, after being stung so many times when reaching for the honey, we must look to see if the nugget is gold all through and through.

There are some unanswered questions about Obama. Most obviously, the Rezko Affair which puts squarely in issue Barack's judgment, integrity and whether he has real concern for his own people.

When he was in the Illinois State Legislature Rezko, whom Obama calls a friend, owned 11 buildings in Obama’s district. Some had no heat in the winter and constituents complained to Obama. It does not appear that Barack did much, if anything, about constituent complaints other than send them to the Housing Authority. During this period Barack took thousands of dollars from Rezko. It does not appear that he gave the Rezko money to charity until after he was caught.

Integrity at the point of a gun, is not much to brag about.

Call me a Doubting Thomas when it comes to all candidates.

We heard the integrity and unity bit before. That bit was the campaign mantra of George W. Bush when he took the 2000 Presidential election. He delivered neither. Bush divided the country more starkly than any President in a century and made hundreds of false statements to lure America into an unnecessary war of aggression. So much for talk.

Many Obama supporters are being swept up in a carnival like atmosphere gleefully riding the merry-go-round while reaching for the brass ring of change. Is what we think we see in Obama real or is it the mirage of a thirsty man in the desert? It cannot hurt to stop for a second, look, and listen. It is so important that it would not be hyperbole to say that the future of America, if not the world, is at stake.

Is Barack Obama a snake oil salesman with a hypnotic potion or a modern day Savanarola striking at political immorality and real change?

There has always been a thrill of finding fools gold. But, there is despair when the assessor tells us the truth. Let’s hope that Obama is the real thing. But, if he is the snake oil salesman that is the same ole Washington we hate. Pretending to be something you are not is not a new kind of politics. It is the exact thing we want to change.