Is he “The One,” as Oprah Winfrey once exclaimed with a sense of awe? Is he the secular messiah that has come to save the mighty American empire from crumbling into pebbles of shameful despair? Or, is he, as some right-wing extremists have condescendingly declared, “The Magic Negro,” who has come to wave his wand to cure all of America’s ills left over from the previous eight years? Who exactly is Barack Obama? He is the 44th President of the United States who has been given the responsibility via the expressed powers of the Constitution to be the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, to ensure that U.S. laws are properly carried out, to make treaties with foreign nations, to appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court Justices and Cabinet members, to veto certain legislation, when necessary, etc.
Is President Obama God? Obviously the answer to this extraordinarily extreme question is, “No!” But, one has to wonder whether certain individuals believe that President Obama, as well as former presidents, should fulfill the role of the sovereign, majestic, and mighty Creator. With nearly 200 accomplishments in two years, comments such as, “I’m tired of defending him” and “He should have reversed all of our problems by now” bespeak of this unattainable belief that President Obama or any other president can simply snap his fingers to fix the economy and other enormous issues that evolved years prior to his presidency. The President is one of many people involved in running the White House and passing beneficial public policies. We, as American citizens, should play a vital role in helping the President and ensuring that the country moves forward with value-adding policies through effective political engagement. The following principles should help individuals to successfully engage in politics upon implementation:
1. Don’t elevate a politician to divine status. Exclusive of your political affiliation, it is imperative that you view politicians for what they really are- that is, men and women who have been appointed, elected or selected by some other means to create secular, public policies that theoretically should benefit the general welfare of the public at large. These men and women are not messianic in nature. They are not here to save souls, to heal the brokenhearted or to set captives free. It is extremely difficult to effectively engage in fruitful political discussion and value-adding politics, when one believes that a mere man or woman has somehow been endowed to single-handedly and supernaturally change economic, cultural and societal ills.
