Duck! and Gather

In my last two blog posts, I note my belief that Obama’s speech this coming Wednesday is a major cross roads not only of his presidency, but of the nation. Racially speaking, Obama is a coconut who is mistakenly seen as a “Black Guy” by people over 65. Obama has spent his life trying his hardest not to be seen as the Angry Black Man.

It’s such a practiced stance that it seems very difficult for him to get all righteous and angry. The only time we saw it on the campaign trail was when the Clinton campaign started with their desperate attacks on him, as their own campaign began to falter. Obama’s ire was roused, and he got sarcastic and combative.

Come Wednesday, he’s got to bring out the wood. Shut down the crazy right wing and send them back to the caves from which they come. Then turn his gun sights on the Heath Corporations. And fire away.

He has to make it clear that we are in a war for the survival of this nation. And the enemies of this nation are the massive Corporations that value money over humanity, and their follow travelers. There is no more facile example of this dynamic than that concerning the Health Corporations.

The vile Health Corporations touch the lives of each and every American citizen. This is in contrast with the investment banks and the military industrial complex, the dark workings of which are hidden, and unseen by the masses. But Health Corporations commit their crimes against the People each and every day. We People know that.

Obama is either going to stand up for the People on Wednesday, or he will be remembered as the worst — and who knows? maybe even the last — President of the United States.

I have blogged and told friends that Obama is the next in line of Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. What all of these people had/have in common is that their presidency involved a struggle for the survival of the nation. Another thing all four had/had in common is that each man came relatively “late” to the struggle of his time.

Washington came relatively late to the revolution against the British. But he is remembered as the ultimate revolutionary.

Lincoln was not an abolitionist until quite late. But he is remembered as the man who freed the slaves.

Roosevelt did not build his career as a labor organizer. But he is remembered as a true man of the People.

Obama is very, very late in engaging the Corporations who control Government and Media. This current health care debate, stretching across the summer of 2009, is the most obvious example yet of the Corporations wielding their control of American society.

If Obama is going to be remembered as “next in line” to Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt, then he will be remembered by history as the man who brought the Corporations to heel.

Yet as I write this blog post on September 6, 2009, it feels to me like Obama is going to shrink from this battle once again.

You know, if he stands up to the nation on Wednesday, and backpedals again, he will have lost me as a supporter. And I suspect that if he loses me, his approval ratings will drop far south of 50% (due to the demographic I represent), therefore his impact on the 2010 elections will be neutered, and thus this nation will be all but hopeless.

In that case, the horrors of “1984″ will visit us. We will become USA, Inc.

All of that riding on a speech coming up in 3 days. History says Obama will answer the call. But the past 9 months of behavior says something different.

I’ll be watching.

Back in 2006, when I predicted that Obama would become the next U.S. president, I explained that the basis for my prediction rested in part on the apparent Ennegram personality type of Obama. In my view, Obama is an Enneagram “Seven”.

Now, what a great many people seem to misunderstand about the Enneagram is that, at its core, it’s a theory of what we don’t like about people, not what we like. It’s about how we fail, not necessarily about how we win.

For example, I am an Eight. What that means is that, when I’m being an asshole, I’m a bully who pushes others, spins the truth for my own interests, and just can’t seem to shut up. Like I said, an asshole.

But when a Seven is being an asshole, that looks very different. For example, a Seven might be an asshole when a he is pursuing his pleasure addictions (e.g. smoking), acting like he thinks he’s God, and avoiding confrontation of any kind to the point of debilitation.

That last point brings me to the health care debates, and Obama’s upcoming speech to the nation this Wednesday. When the pundits who are your most ardent fans start mocking you for your annoying habit of avoiding all confrontation, you know that your Enneagram type has become obvious to all.