The irrational exuberance continues

Well here we are six days into the President-elect Obama transition zone. Over the weekend I enjoyed reading various views on Obama's rise, how black people feel, what can or cannot be expected. No matter how you slice it, and no matter how cynical I am about it, there is no doubt his campaign and win are historic and remarkable. And it breaks a huge barrier (who knew how huge? Only black people I guess) for the African-American community (maybe now we can get rid of the term "African American" now?). As Whoopi said, "I feel like I can put my suitcase down now." That's pretty cool.

Still, I worry. There remains a lot of exuberance. I fear it's a bubble (been a lot of those lately!)that will surely pop, and when it does, it'll be painful. What if the challenges are too overwhelming? What if Obama makes bad decisions (or follows through with some of his math-challenged policies)?

But for whom will it be painful? I have a hunch. Here is what'll happen, beyond further economic pain for the US: because of the heights to which Obama has been elevated in the mass hysterical psyche of those who voted for him, he can never fail. And if something that even remotely smells of or looks like failure, it won't be Obama's failure. It'll be the GOP's. It'll be the republicans' fault. That's the only conclusion they'll be able draw. It's not their beloved Obama that screwed up, it's his enemies on the right. The tripped him! They blocked is every exalted move! If they hadn't worked against him, then he would have succeeded!

Currently there is a lot of hand-wringing about what the GOP should do to regain the glory of the Reagan years. But perhaps more importantly and more immediate are many things the GOP should concentrate on not doing (more on this later).

In the meantime, I hope all the statues now being carved to Obama's greatness don't have clay feet.