A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships but can be found in some democracies.
A cult of personality is similar to general hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of religious or non-political leaders.
Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-Il all utilized the cult of personality in their tyrant regimes. Is it happening here in the U.S.? The young people of a country are often utilized to spread the propaganda. See, for example:
- Obama youth fraternity pledging allegiance
- Obama youth sing in tribute to the one
- Kids for Obama
AI have you read John W. Deans book, "Conservative Without Conscience"? Talk about cults of personality..... Dean was to have written this book in conjunction with Barry Goldwater who in his dying days detested the modern day Conservative movement. It's good reading.
ReplyDeleteHaving watched the video clips linked here, I was reminded of this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShRipRHt4Bk
Think the makers of the Obama Youth videos had this scene in mind?
Any time anyone uses Wikipedia as a source of information, that info is automatically suspect.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, history proves that bad economic times help bring these dangerous charismatic types to power. By the time people figure out what they are capable of doing once in power, it's too late to stop them.
ReplyDeleteStalin and the Cult of Personality
ReplyDeleteCult of Personality Video
Living Colour's lyrics:
"You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You gave me power in your god’s name
I’m every person you need to be
I’m the cult of personality
Look into my eyes, what do you see?
Cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I’ve been everything you want to be
I’m the cult of personality
Like mussolini and kennedy
I’m the cult of personality
Cult of personality
Cult of personality
Neon lights, a nobel prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don’t have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I’m the smiling face on your t.v.
I’m the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me"
As a definition of Obama, it fits pretty well.
NY Times on "The Cult of Personality"
ReplyDeleteNY Times: The Charisma Mandate
“Accounts of the campaign’s “Camp Obama” sessions, to train volunteers, have a revivalist flavor. Volunteers are urged to avoid talking about policy to potential voters, and instead tell of how they “came” to Mr. Obama.
“If you don’t talk about issues in great detail, if you do it in a way that is not the centerpiece of your campaign, of your rhetoric, then you become a blank screen,” Mr. Wilentz said. “Everybody thinks you are the vehicle of their hopes.”
Gary's hit the nail on the head.
L. Ron Hubbard would be very proud of what Obama has accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI've been writing about the Obama cult of personality for months.
ReplyDeleteNow that the economy is starting to tank worse than anyone thought, watch this end up on the backs of Jewish people. The Anti-Defamation League reports the following the other day:
ADL Reports Surge in Anti-Semitic Messages on Online Finance Sites in Response To Money Crisis
New York, NY, October 2, 2008 … In the wake of the collapse of major investment banks and the government's proposed bailout of financial institutions, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is reporting a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy.
(http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Internet_75/5366_75.htm)
Watch for progressives to start making subtle but disparaging remarks about Jews, and their "influence" within the government and finance.
It was a cult of personality and a fiscal collapse that brought Hitler to power.
We ain't seen nothing yet. Think of the Borg from Star Trek. That is what the elite socialist want for all humans. The exception is that unlike the Borg drones, the elites get to have individual freedom, power, and money. The bailout bill is so supported by socialist democrats because it can finally be payback for white flight (which really should be called decent people flight). The socialist democrats can't wait to move a bunch of lower income ghetto types to the lily white suburbs once they "own" the homes via owning the mortgage. Once Obama is president, watch for them to come back to the law and re-write it so that there are "diversity" rules about foreclosure and such. Poor minorities who should have never purchased a home in the burbs will get bailed out. Poor whites will get told they are free from the mortgage, but still will get evicted. Then they will use "diversity" rules to move in more minorities. They will fight for conformity at any costs.
ReplyDeleteThe coming burn-off is going to be here quicker than even I expected. I plan on watching the burn-off live on CNN!!
Fear mongers...all of you. We've just spent eight years reaping the "benefits" of a personality cult. If you think Obama is going to win the election and then the next day decare himself emperor, then you must have missed the Christian Crusade we went through in this country since 2001!
ReplyDeleteThis post is sickening, AI.
You, Jon Easter, are unaware of the sweeping powers a president can assert if he declares a national state of emergency, which given the current financial collapse taking place, is more than a remote possibility. Even Lincoln temporarily suspended habeus corpus. Roosevelt closed the banks and stock market temporarily and ordered the internment of Japanese Americans.
ReplyDelete"Well, gee, dontcha know, this here Obama is a cult o' personality. Now, I'm an outsider to Washington, so maybe I don't see things the same way they do here, but I just don't see anything like any cults or personalities on the McCain-Palin ticket, doggunit!"
ReplyDeleteI'll see your trumped-up cult of personality charge on Obama and raise you a Palin, a Bush (W), a Reagan, and I'll throw in Hillary Clinton, with her crazy "I'm voting for McCain out of spite" supporters, though I doubt you'd disagree with that one.
The Republican Party in the last two elections has dominated image politics: no substance, no issues, just image. False humbleness, anachronisms, posing with cowboy hats and clearing brushfires, and painting the other guy as a latte-drinking flip-flopping "libuhral" with fuzzy math. What would you call Bush supporters over the last eight years? Policy wonks?!
Obama is doing much less of that then previous Republican campaigns, and especially less than McCain's campaign. Excuse citizens for getting excited about it.
I respected your posts on SJR-7. I thought they were well-reasoned and supported.
But this...look, there are plenty of reasons not to vote for Obama, and I suppose a few left to vote for McCain. But what you're doing is, at best, hypocritical cherry picking, and at worst inventing hyperbole from what can normally be described as election-year attitudes. The crazies come out on both sides of the aisle every four years. I wonder if you're following the hate-stumps Palin is spreading around the country, where her supporters are screaming things like "terrorist" and "kill him!" when she mentions Obama.
You want to talk about who's campaign is more dangerous right now? With Palin almost a heartbeat away from the presidency?
It's really, really sad to watch smart, articulate people turn disingenuous for partisan politics. And I would say the same to someone screaming conspiracy about McCain or Palin.