Expectations

It would be good for everyone, including Barack Obama, if expectations for his presidency were set a bit lower. Obama, yet a day away from taking office, is already being compared to Lincoln, is going to rebuild America's status in the world, and is going to bring America's diverse society together.

That quiver in Chris Matthews' leg aside, what if things go a bit less ideally?

What if Muslims the world over continue to show contempt for America? What if Europe continues to demand from America a bitter share of the world's responsibilities without pitching in on its own account? What if Hugo Chavez, broke and desperate, uses the last of his acquired wealth to sink the rest South America farther into Marxism? What if the drug runners of Mexico spill their violence even farther onto the streets of the United States? What of al Qaeda and the Taliban and the Great Bear of Russia? Will China saber rattle over Taiwan? Will Iran get the bomb and an effective delivery system? Will Kim Jong-il, (or whomever is in charge of that boil) fire missiles toward Japan? What of the Jews and Hamas, or Hezbollah, or Islamic Jihad, or Fatah?

What if the economy continues to struggle, despite Obama's best efforts?

He has already declared his desire for $825 billion more for the next round of economic stimulus. As has been pointed out, for the 3,000,000 jobs or so this amount is supposed to help create, it only does so at the cost of $275,000+ per job. That is pretty big money for make-do work.

Of course, not all of this money is aimed at creating work at all. Millions would go to the National Endowment for the Arts, more billions to universities, larger billions to poorly run states, and countless billions to be wasted in other dubious places like television converter boxes among other things. Alas, a billion simply does not go as far as it used to. This does not even consider the devastating effects his pursuit of AGW progressivism will have on the economy, an effort he is attempting to place in the arms of a radical, international wealth-spreading socialist. Obama has already declared that energy prices must "necessarily" increase in order to cut demand. To succeed in this goal is to lose in a larger arena.

As for the Lincoln comparison, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has already regurgitated the old "our diversity is our strength" chestnut, and the fact that Barack Obama represents this vision. There is much to celebrate with the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the presidency and Granholm recognizes this, even if she does so by throwing out that tiredly inaccurate retread.

Barack Obama is worthy, by virtue of his election, to take office and lead this great country, but let us not forget that he is but flesh and bone. He is not an international messiah, he is not any more gifted in economics than are his advisers, and he is not deserving of a chance to enact radical socialist measures without resistance, just because of Who He Is, and any ill measured comparisons that might exist.

Living up to the lofty expectations of his followers will be more than impossible. Barack Obama will soon learn that in politics there is no honeymoon, regardless of how wonderful the engagement.

As of tomorrow, every bit of it is his. Expectations and all.