Unlike media, Obama knows he's no wizard

By John Kass
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
January 20, 2009

WASHINGTON — Venturing out among the gentle Hopium Eaters here without an antidote is quite risky, what with journalists from every state about to eagerly witness Tuesday's historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and bathe in symbolic waters.

For protection, I slipped some de Tocqueville in my pocket, the wise Frenchman warning about 170 years ago that "the American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers it can bribe the public with the public's money."

But then I realized that if spotted, I'd be denounced, perhaps with howling and finger-pointing in the fashion of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." So to get into the proper, journalist-eyes-glazed-over mood, I read an op-ed piece in The New York Times titled "Magic and Realism."

"But this 47-year-old man of mixed race, whose very name—O-Ba-Ma—has the three-syllable universality of a child's lullaby, has always had something of the providential about him, a global figure who looks more like the guy at the local bodega than the guys on dollar bills. That's the magic."

That's the magic?

I can't imagine Obama reading that and not retching, wondering what to do with so many adoring scribes, so dogmatically secular, yet eager to be led by political holy men, or sorcerers.

Is Tuesday's inauguration special? Of course. The son of an African immigrant will become president of a country where, just a few years ago, people with black skin were denied basic civil rights. That can't ever be understated, or truly understood, by white America.

But Obama is too smart to believe in sorcery, even as the scribes of the left (and even the right) gather about him, offering advice, preening for attention, inviting him to dinners where they touch the hem of his garment without invitation.

Unlike some who raise expectations to manic heights, Obama has an extremely clear head. He's a rational man. He's not on Hopium. He's from Chicago.

So is Dr. Timuel Black, 90 and of vital mind, the son of sharecroppers, a Chicago educator, civil rights activist and historian who like many is here in Washington to witness our new history.

"Certainly the symbolism of the inauguration is important," Black said. "Just think of all the mothers who'll sit with their sons and point to Barack Obama and say, 'This is what you can aspire to.' So you can't dismiss the symbolism. It is vitally important, and it speaks to pride, accomplishment and overcoming centuries of pain. I think of all the families here, and those watching at home, filling with pride at this unbelievable day."

But a teacher never stops teaching, and Dr. Black offered me a lesson the day before Obama took the oath of office.

"I remember when I was a little boy, and my grandmother, who was born in 1847, was with me. And I'd be doing something, perhaps even some mischief, talking to her, and she'd say something I never forgot."

What did she tell you?

"She'd say, 'I can't hear what you're saying because what you're doing is talking so loud.' "

Perfect.

"Yeah," Black said, "and I don't think she ever read Aristotle. But it's not only what we say, it's what we do that counts, and what we do speaks louder than our words. Magic has nothing to do with it. That's Obama's challenge, and our own."

Unlike some of the emotional media geysers, Tim Black is full of hope, but he isn't on Hopium. He's not guilty, and he's grounded.

Unfortunately, other analysts aren't, and their involuntary yearning and gushing tells me they may have memorized an old song by Uriah Heep in the early 1970s, when there was something else in the air besides Hopium.

He was the wizard of a thousand kings/And I chance to meet him one night wandering/He told me tales and he drank my wine/ Me and my magic man kind of feeling fine/He had a cloak of gold and eyes of fire/And as he spoke out of a deep desire/ To free the world of its fear and pain/And help the people to feel free again.

So much of this week's over-the-top coverage seems born of that Uriah Heep song. And I would remind those who yearn for magic to stash the bongs and grab some coffee. Obama is no sorcerer. He is a man.

And he realizes that after Tuesday's rhetoric and symbolism, it will be his actions, not words, that shape his future, and ours.

jskass@tribune.com