Quinnipiac: Plurality of Public Now Says Obama Is An Asshole

That's in a crosstab, somewhere.

Before getting into the poll, I'll note why I care. True, Obama isn't running again. And so this poll doesn't mean anything in particular for the future.

However, a large segment of the American public has been gaslit for the past seven years, fed a never-ending stream of false claims and ludicrous boasts about the leader of a demogoguic and frightening Cult of Personality.

Let me quote Wikipedia's definition of that:

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and at times, worshipful image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Sociologist Max Weber developed a tripartite classification of authority; the cult of personality holds parallels with what Weber defined as "charismatic authority". A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is established by mass media and propaganda usually by the state, especially in totalitarian states.

A bit more:

Throughout history, monarchs and other heads of state were almost always held in enormous reverence. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, for example, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. Ancient Egypt, Japan, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet, Siam (now Thailand), and the Roman Empire are especially noted for redefining monarchs as "god-kings".

The spread of democratic and secular ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura.
However, the subsequent development of photography, sound recording, film, and mass production, as well as public education and techniques used in commercial advertising, enabled political leaders to project a positive image as never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the best-known personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of political religion.

Boy howdy, how true that is, Wikipedia.

It is cathartic and reassuring for We, The Gaslighted, to finally have the majority of the public agreeing that we were essentially right all along.

That shouldn't matter -- ideally, a man possessed of the truth should not care if his truth is popular or not -- but as a practical matter it does.

It is an altogether unpleasant experience to be separated from one's fellows and the greater culture by knowing a truth the masses consider unspeakable. And so then it is pleasant to see the mass of humanity regain its senses.

It is good to no longer be called "crazy" by people who are themselves overtaken by madness.

So the Cult of Personality is well and truly dead. Never again will we hear hoseannas about our Great Leader's supple mind, erotically throbbing pectoral muscles, or literary genius, except perhaps from our Great Leader himself or his whispering sycophant Valerie Jarrett.

This is good for America, as well: It is a stupid and frightening and shameful thing for a people to fall so hard for a ridiculous, false-on-its-face fairy tale about a Crusading Hero Who Will Deliver Us All. This is how nations die.

Perhaps America has learned some hard-won wisdom from its folly. Perhaps there will not be a Next Charismatic Cult of Personality Hero on a White Horse, at least for a generation.

Perhaps Obama will become a shorthand for a dreadful folly, like "Ozymandias" or "Icarus."

I could scarcely imagine a man more deserving of such a fate as the Failed God Obama.

But perhaps the American public is every bit as stupid as I think they are, and will fall for the next Man on a White Horse just as easily as it did for this one.

Well, at the moment, they're ten percent less stupid than they were five years ago. So at least that's something.

July 2, 2014 - Obama Is First As Worst President Since WWII, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; More Voters Say Romney Would Have Been Better

President Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, 33 percent of American voters say in a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. Another 28 percent pick President George W. Bush.

This is a bit bullshit, because the current president will always loom very large in the worst/best listings. Still, it's something, and Bush wasn't so very far long ago that people have forgotten him.

Ronald Reagan is the best president since WWII, 35 percent of voters say, with 18 percent for Bill Clinton, 15 percent for John F. Kennedy and 8 percent for Obama, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Now that is bad. As I said, the current occupant of the White House should loom unrealistically large in people's assessments of both the worst and best president.

But only 8% will give that honor to Obama!

You could find 8% of the public that believes that Hillary Clinton is capable of moving under her own power, for crying out loud.

Obama has been a better president than George W. Bush, 39 percent of voters say, while 40 percent say he is worse. Men say 43 - 36 percent that Obama is worse than Bush while women say 42 - 38 percent he is better.

Women barely give him the nod.

...

Voters say by a narrow 37 - 34 percent that Obama is better for the economy than Bush.

That's very close -- and Bush was blamed for the Great Recession. But now apparently the public believes Obama is just as bad.

This is heartening:

America would be better off if Republican Mitt Romney had won the 2012 presidential election, 45 percent of voters say, while 38 percent say the country would be worse off.

On competency:

American voters say 54 - 44 percent that the Obama Administration is not competent running the government. The president is paying attention to what his administration is doing, 47 percent say, while 48 percent say he does not pay enough attention.

The country is split on whether he's a liar, and says he's not a good leader:

The president gets mixed grades for character as voters say 48 - 48 percent that he is honest and trustworthy and 51 - 47 percent that he cares about their needs and problems. He gets a negative 47 - 51 percent for leadership qualities.

More at Quinnipiac and at the Hot Air digest.

Exit Question:

Isn't it time for at least one reporter in the media to do a piece on the possibility that what we've experienced for the past seven years was in fact a Cult of Personality?

And one particularly prevalent in the courtly/priestly castes of the media?

Or does that remain another one of those questions which is entirely too dangerous and heretical to even pose?

posted by Ace at 03:57 PM

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