I. They, Too Write Science Fiction

I have written about the religious overtones that some people (supporters and press) have seen in the campaigns of Obama, Clinton and Edwards and demonstrated how these could be used to predict the fate of the campaigns. Now, I would like to address the heroic epic treatment that writers in the press have given Barack Obama.

Why? Because the press corp has a big effect on any election, especially a presidential election. If they like a candidate and want him to win, that can go a long way towards enabling him to win. Therefore, it pays to know how the minds of the writers who write the news work.



Journalist may tell you that they report events that happen (“Just the facts, Ma’am.”), but do not believe them. I am a writer and editor of speculative fiction. More than most genres, science fiction must pass the “suspension of disbelief” test, since it aims to take new, far fetched science or technology and make it seem realistic. The author tries to balance the “gee whiz” effect that is essential to the art with the “Yeah, that could happen” effect.

Journalists are nothing more than science fiction writers. They take new “facts” or theories that are not already in the public realm, and they present them in the form of news stories. Their goal is to make these new ideas seem true. In order to do this, they rely on many of the same tricks that a science fiction writer uses---predictable story models such as the three basic story units described by Robert Heinlein (The Brave Little Tailor, Boy Meets Girl, The Man Who Learned Better) which satisfy because they appeal to basic emotions. They also employ lots of details, dialogue (quotes), reference to accepted “facts” or “ideas” that seems to support the new theory, repetition (foreshadowing), a satisfactory summing up or conclusion that gives the reader the sense of closure.

These literary devices would be unnecessary if the only goal was the dissemination of simple knowledge. For instance, the day’s stock prices are given as a list of numbers, because these values are straightforward. An ad for a used car consists of a few words or abbreviations. Only when dealing with controversial subjects, like war or politics do we see mini epics. Such stories are not designed to convey information. They are meant to change the way that we think.
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II. The Once and Future Hero


Forget Barack Obama in African garb. Close your eyes and picture gingham. Blue checked gingham. And ruby slippers. And while you are at it, picture a suit made out of straw and another made out of tin and a third made from a lion’s skin---because in dreams and fantasies all the characters are aspects of the hero.

Sen. Barack Obama does not hail from Kansas, but he comes from somewhere close by. Eighteen months ago, he got caught up in a whirlwind adventure which few people will ever experience----a battle for a major party nomination for U.S. president. Because the primary contender for the nomination was a woman whom the press despised even characterized as a witch , it was natural that he developed a fan club within the press corp. David vs. Goliath (or some variation such as The Little Train That Could) is a favorite tale in America.

I realize that the image of the tall, manly Barack Obama wearing Dorothy’s slippers is sillier than The Fish Slapping Dance from Monty Python. However, hard luck is what makes the American hero strong, and like the little girl from Kansas, Obama had a lot going against him. He was biracial, the product of a broken home, the author of an autobiography in which he had written frankly about adolescent experiences that most people try to hide. He had spent some of his formative years in another country. Definitely “underdog” material, and underdogs make the very best American heroes. The more the odds are stacked against him in the beginning of the tale, the greater his victory seems in the end. The thought of Barack Obama defeating the Witch was too a good a story for the press to pass up. Reporters celebrated it through a full 50 state primary. They forgot that they were supposed to be John McCain’s base----Chris Matthews and George Will had said so---and they began rooting for a Democrat! .Just about the only negative press they threw his way was actually a positive---the Rev. Wright story---since it reminded everyone who heard it that Obama had been a member of a Christian church for close to two decades.

The problem----for the press corp---came after Obama defeated the Witch. On the one hand, they had a Republican candidate who had played the part of the Little Straight Talking Express Train that Could. And on the other hand, they had Dorothy-Obama who had just tossed a pail of water on the Pant Suited One. McCain had spent Vietnam in the Hanoi Hilton, even rejecting an offer of special treatment that would have won him freedom. He came home from his ordeal crippled, walking with crutches. This gave him about as much victim status as a wealthy white American man could ever hope to achieve. And his opponent was the first African-American major party nominee.

It was like someone took Captain Marvel and Superman and told them to square off in a ring. It was like King Arthur versus George Washington. Does anyone really want to see that fight? What would it prove? Does the press even have a story model they can employ for a presidential contest like that?

III. Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.


Right now, the members of the press have a great big case of writer’s block which allows them to do only one thing---report on what is said and done. The most partisan journalists still manage to slip in their bias. The NeoCons will twist everything to suit McCain and the progressive press still favors Obama. But all the reporters in the middle----the ones like Margaret Carlson who usually favor the candidate who is brighter, flashier, more charming, more photogenic more fun are at a loss. They are like deer dazzled by the headlights of two different campaigns. On the one hand, Obama defeated the Witch Hillary and his story is just so appealing. On the other hand, John McCain came from way behind to win, and his story is just so appealing, too. If this was a movie, McCain would have to drop out of the race at the end but proclaim Obama his spiritual heir in the final reel.

With any luck, things will stay like this all the way until after the two parties’ conventions, leaving Obama free to do what Dorothy did after taking out the Wicked Witch of the West. He is proving to the world that he has all those attributes that Dorothy’s companions showed during their quest to aid her. He is demonstrating his patriotism (courage) , just like the Lion. He is showing off his experience (intelligence) just like the Scare Crow. And he is proving that he would never ever say an unkind word about his highly victimized opponent, John McCain, because he is full of Christian love just like the Tin Man. Some people at DU have called this triangulating or moving to the center. I would suggest that this is “triangulating” only if you consider testimony given in a criminal trial for the defendant “triangulation”. Barack Obama has been the target of coordinated right wing character attacks on his experience, patriotism and religion by conservative media whores like Bob Novak, Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Dick Morris for a year and a half. He is now presenting his case to the American people in an abridged but concentrated form. He has just two more months to convince America that he is the truest, bluest readiest presidential candidate in the land and that Jesus is his co-pilot…before he has to make an appearance at the Democratic Convention in Denver, where he will make that “jump to the left”----

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdu7xoHU9DA...

And rally his base once again. Sort of like Dorothy discovering that she always had the power within her to go home. Barack Obama is no different now than he was then than he will be in late August. The Once and Future Hero never changes. He is just going through the process that is necessary if we want him to win this fall.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have just two months to paint him as Malcolm X’s love child. Without letting any of the mud splash back on McCain. If they can not do that, they lose.

IV. From the people who brought you attack of the Bee Women From Mars

Speaking of science fiction, I saw the story tellers at work today on MSNBC, trying to tell the world that the war in Iraq was now a great success. This is what I meant when I wrote that journalists are just like writers of speculative fiction. They take a far fetched premise and try to give it the “reality effect” treatment. Sometimes, their corporate bosses give them assignments that are beyond their talents as mere reporters. At times like these, they really need to bring in professional screenwriters. If you are going to change all of the laws of physics----up is now down and down is now up and $300 million a day is pocket change---it takes more than some guy who majored in political science.