Dream Vessels

Okay, so I've decided the core of what is wrong with America is our spiritual emptiness.

Don't get me wrong: there is so much good and fine about America. Our compassion, the willingness of our people to sacrifice for others (and, just so you remember, note that Republicans/conservatives give much more to charity than Democrats/leftists. I'm just sayin'...).

A symptom of the spiritual emptiness is the way some of us fixate on Dream Vessels.

Dream Vessels are empty blanks, into which we project our own needs and desires.

I think of the celebrity worship, and how important they are to some of us.

Movie stars. Music stars. Even politicians.

They become the carriers of our dreams. We fill them up and we give them meaning.

A few of the Dream Vessels have the sense to recognize they are not who we tell them they are.

But most of the Dream Vessels become seduced, I think, by the concentrated attention. "If people are paying that much attention to me, I must be important."

Obama became a huge Dream Vessel for many people. I think that's one of the reasons the major press was so enamored of him. They want him to get elected, and it will make their dream come true: America has moved beyond its racist past!

(Well, actually, in a lot of ways, America has moved beyond its racist past. Unfortunately, we are not in utopia, and not perfect, damn it!, hence the dream remains.)

So, the press had not exactly been evil in pouring their energies and attention into the Vessel of Dreams that is Barack Obama...but they have been negligent. They want so badly for their dreams to become reality, they overlook the reality of his emptiness. He's eloquent, but is he effective? He says what they want to hear, but what has he done? Cast a light upon his past associates with as much vigor as you have examined Ms. Palin. But, no, that won't happen...dreams fade in too much light.

Much as I enjoy Sarah Palin, I think she is becoming a Vessel of Dreams for an entirely separate group of people -- and the Nightmare Made Flesh for another. Fortunately, Governor Palin is not nearly as empty as Senator Obama, and I suspect she can resist the lure of believing she as important and he, and his supporters, tell him he is.