Obama and the Palin Effect

Thanks to my man Sub, I've been made aware of Deepak Chopra's political blogging. Apparently, Dr. Chopra has been mulling over the psychological implications of the presidential election too;

Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses . In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Incidentally, "paling" is dutch for eel. It refers to the slithering, serpent-like movement of the eel....., I posted something to this effect a couple of weeks ago. My concluding thought to that post remains mostly unchanged today; And that my friends, is exactly the way it is. Not that I believe the popular mandate and the selected manager of federal executive branch operations is the final arbiter and shot caller, but as a windsock for public opinion - he ABSOLUTELY serves a critical role for TPTB who must guage, assuage, and ultimately co-opt the political will of the masses. I might expand on that notion a little by adding that what America next expresses about itself - "our" intentions and meaning - will be embodied in this upcoming presidential selection. The world is waiting to see what America's intentions will be....,