What Has Happened to the Presidency?

It had to happen, it was inevitable. The commercialization of the Presidency of the United States. The construction of the office according to media manipulation, including sound bits, photo ops and all the mind controlling gimmicks of a big time advertising firm. Sadly, we the public have fallen for it. We have fallen prey to what looks good, what sounds good and to what others have manipulated into what we should think. It is not as blatant as George Orwell's 1984 with big brother watching and openly controlling but more subtle, sublime and suggestive.

How do you get someone elected? First, the person must appear and sound to please. Pleasant to the eye with a worldly control of their vocabulary and the ability to read a teleprompter with ease. Second, the person must have self control. Be able to speak and portray one line of thought while at the same time not believing it or willing to enforce it. Third, this person must have the ability to invoke sympathy. Portray an image people identify with, even though it could be false and never earned. Fourth, be in the right place at the right time. That is, by luck, by creative fashion or making, be the image of what is needed even though the image has no depth of fortitude or ability to accomplish the required task. Finally, most importantly, controllable and willing. To succumb, sacrifice and hide one's true meaning knowing if exposed you are unelectable.

I am tired of a President continually seeking a daily appearance in the media, clad in rolled up shirt sleeves with an unbutton collar in the middle of a contrived audience, a focus group, with just the right camera angle to show him working for the greater good. I am tired of the controlled and willing media backing up his story and blindly following without the desire to research and show the true picture. I don't want a community organizer, an agitator, one that speaks only of ideas and has none of his own. I want a President that listens to the people, believes in the Constitution, refuses to preach to the public. A President that does what is best for the country and not just his party or the need to get reelected.

As with all superficial icons, products that are more fiction than fact, time is their worst enemy. Eventually, hardship, need and result will triumph over the thin exterior of spin and marketing. Hopefully, the people will see this sooner rather than later and return the Office of the Presidency back to its true representation.