That was candidate Obama speaking about defining moments. That was then and this is now!
Well the 2012 presidential election officially started this past week with the shooting in Arizona. I listen to Morning Joe in the morning when I’m getting ready for work and a bit of Chris Matthews and Big Eddy on MSNBC in the evening. I have noticed the continual slow indoctrination of the American people by MSNBC and probably other channels as well. This last couple of days the words “defining moment for the president” seemed to take precedent over all other talk. We, the public are being indoctrinated by the press that Obama’s speech at the memorial service in Arizona is his defining moment. Donny Deutsch said something this morning like Obama made us remember why we voted for him. No, Donnie, the president did no such thing because it wasn’t about the president. Chris Matthews even said it was an “opportunity” for Obama.
I’m not in President Obama’s head but politicians seem to dirty everything they touch with that old opportunity thing. Just to clear things up for Chris Matthews and opportunity doesn’t usually come off the deaths and injuries of real people. If anyone looks at a memorial service as an opportunity, they are nothing more then a leech off society. As for that “defining moment”, it’s hard to see a connection to the presidential politics of 2012 and what happened in Arizona.
When my mom died that was a defining moment in my life. I seem to remember things as before and after her death in many ways. The same goes for my dad and sister. At my mom’s funeral I read a poem I had written. The poem and the service itself were not defining moments for me. The defining moment was when my dad screamed up the stairs for me to come down because mom had died. I’ll never forget that lonely Thanksgiving morning when I lost my wonderful mom.
We all have moments when our life may be defined in one capacity or another. The birth of our children or our marriage, are moments that probably are defining for people. Great events in a person’s life will probably be defining moments. However, the shooting in Arizona wasn’t about President Obama and it wasn’t about politics really. It was about an epidemic in our society of violence and probably mental illness. It just so happens that this time the violence struck a politician. It was a defining moment for all the people involved in the shooting. For the rest of us it was a tragedy that we saw unfold slowly and continuously on our TV sets and the Internet. We heard day after day many pundits talking about who is to blame and so on and so. We can empathize with all involved and we can pray and hope that the wounded have a quick recovery. We can share in the loss of life but we cannot really know the suffering of each family that was touched by this madness.
In my mind a defining moment for President Obama was his election. It was about him and what he had accomplished. Arizona isn’t about Obama or Sarah Palin or any other politician. I’m tired of the same old talk from the same old pundits who are once again trying to make us pick a side. In December they wanted us to like Obama because he did so much and we all got out tax cuts. I feel the drumbeat from people that are in the pocket of Obama trying to get the rest of us to fall in line and vote for him in 2012. All I can say is 2012 is a long way off and the economy will probably be the defining moment for the next election, just like it was for the last election!