Obama: The Untouchable

Sen. Barack Obama is the modern day Eliot Ness.  He is untouchable.  He is Teflon.  Nothing sticks to him.  Not the Rezko ties and trial, not the NAFTA fight with Canada.  Nothing.  Why?

Abraham Katsman points out Obama is no different policy wise from either Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. John Edwards, but for some reason people faint if when they see him like he was Michael Jackson.

His evident charisma aside, a clue to the source of Obama-mania may be found in the demographics of his support: he is far and away the favorite of younger voters and college students, routinely winning over 75% of the votes of Democrats under 30. Obama has tapped into is the first generation educated in schools focused on “self-esteem.” Now, the products of self-esteem education have come of political age in substantial numbers, perhaps with profound implications for this and future elections.

For the past two decades, America’s educational establishment has stressed the inculcation of self-esteem as the supreme educational goal. Self-respect - the product of struggle and achievement - is out; self-esteem - the entitlement tofeel great self-worth regardless of actual accomplishment - is in.

Strict correction of misspelling or of wrong answers to math problems is discouraged. Competition is a big no-no: many youth sports leagues forbid keeping score, lest any child’s self-esteem suffer from the indignity of losing. Posting honor rolls is discouraged, as it might injure the self-esteem of those who did not make the grade.

Grade inflation is rampant in schools: according to one recent study, about half of today’s college freshman had an “A” average in high school compared to under 20% in the late 1960s, even though SAT scores have tanked over the same period. The focus on self-esteem has, in a sense, been a huge success.

We live in a time where every kid who plays sports gets a trophy.  I turn 30 in June.  My younger brother will be 27 in July.  When I played little league trophies were given out to the championship team.  Three years later, when he played, everyone in little league was given trophies just for playing.   It’s amazing the difference just three years can make.

I am also part of the grade inflation era.  I did well through elementary, middle and high school and I would like to think it was because I worked hard.  But, I do believe there is some truth to grade inflation.  After all, we can’t make kids feel bad by giving them failing grades.  Some teachers aren’t even using red pens anymore because of the psychological effects on the children.  One teacher said, “If you see a whole paper of red, it looks pretty frightening.”  We are raising a nation of wimps and it makes you wonder how we as a nation survived all these years.

Is our nation of wimps the reason Obama gets all the support he does because of his messages of hope?