Now Playing: The Great Father Personality Cult
October 13, 2014
As every devout student of history knows, dictators have always built “personality cults” around themselves to the point of virtual deification. Josef Stalin was a famous example of this with photos, paintings, statues, and depictions of him sprinkled across the USSR like black pepper upon a baked potato. And, to be sure, most personality cult portraits of various Dear Leaders and Comrades are accompanied by sickeningly-syrupy slogans and catchphrases that extoll the alleged virtues of the tyrant and his silly ideas. In a personality cult, be it based around a political leader or charismatic religious figure, the serious mistakes of the leader are vehemently denied and/or laid at the feet of other people. We are not immune to this distasteful phenomena here in the Untied, er, United States, either. We don’t have a Dear Leader, but we do have a Great Father and he builds his own personality cult of equal proportions in many cases. To demonstrate this, let’s examine a recent fundraiser (one of many such soirees) that the Great Father graced with his magnificent presence and much swooning took place.
The actress Gwyneth Paltrow, hosted a fundraiser for the Democratic Party in her home in Brentwood, California, a well known haven of the poor, downtrodden masses the Democrats represent, we can be certain. The Great Father himself showed up to this event! Bravo! Encore! What was said and transpired at this event is the stuff that one generally expects at party functions of zany dictators given to outlandish uniforms and authorship of bizarre books offering wacky advice on life and other difficult situations. Paltrow was evidently overcome with admiration and emotion, according to the press. She said of the Great Father, that is, President Obama, “You’re so handsome that I can’t speak properly!” Now, among most rational people, such a comment would be followed by the passing out of air sickness bags. Perhaps they’re all being used right now for flights out of Liberia. Be that as it may, such sycophantic praise is usually found in countries that have leaders wearing hats with the diameter of political fundraiser dinner platters. One’s looks have no bearing on one’s aptitude as a leader. However, in a personality cult, the more flamboyant the leader, the better the alleged admiration of the masses that can be built around him. Hence, the outlandish uniforms, unusual headgear, odd haircuts, and so forth. Or it can be right the opposite with nicely tailored suits and alleged handsomeness, which the media will continually gush about so that no one forgets. Hey, he hasn’t actually done anything especially noteworthy of honest praise, but he’s a snappy dresser and, gosh, he looks swell! But it was another remark that, unintentionally, provided an important window into this personality cult that people should take note of.