Corruption

I'm becoming more convinced that Obama's real job, putting aside our fiscal mess, is to root out corruption, both public and private. Of course, some ambient level of corruption is normal - it is the grist of the political mill and of the world outside. But the fetid stink of now is overwhelming. The latest manifestation is Roland Burris, but the moral corruption in the upper echelons of society is deep (when I say moral, I am implying nothing about religion, by the way, in case anyone thinks my problem is that people have left their churches). Of course, my own exposure to the upper echelons has bruised me psychologically for reasons I'm not going to explain here, so I might well be overreacting to personal experiences that have no broader meaning, but I think I am not.

Also, I am in the middle of reading Obama's Dreams from my Father. Obviously, this will become a part of the modern canon - the actual fairly pure thoughts of a future president when he was 33? It's an incredible historical document that will only become more important as journalism passes into history, like reading Teddy Roosevelt's early works, but better. But what strikes me most is the almost preternatural unity of Obama's vision. His writing then sounds so much like his speeches now that I'm almost convinced he re-edited the book in the 2004 release to insert the current rhetoric. More likely, he is so clever that he understands the compelling power of a consistent, lifelong vision, and so he hews intentionally to what he said earlier. I laugh at the Obama groupies who convince themselves that even his mistakes are part of some sort of deeply subtle underplan, certainly, but those exaggerations shouldn't hide the fact that for those of us on the broad right, he is a subtle and powerful opponent.