Spring Break
St. Barack, hear our prayers
Jonathan Boydston
Issue date: 5/16/08 Section: Forum
It has been several weeks since I first attempted to witness the proverbial canonization of Saint Barack (by way of rally) at Mac Court in Eugene.
Don't get me wrong: C-SPAN has lured me in often enough with its rip-roaringly captivating programs that I've had plenty of chances to watch Obama's stump speech.
Rather, I was really just trying to observe the habits of Eugenians (Eugeners?) during such a massive event.
Sure enough, liberals swarmed like flies to electric zappers in order to catch a glimpse of the personification of inspiration. So many, in fact, that my hopes were soon shattered at the sight of thousands upon thousands of eager Oregonians in lines that snaked around the entire neighborhood.
As soon as I found the back of the line - which took about an hour to do - I found myself in front of a continuously growing Dutch family.
At first there was only the father and daughter. Then a son appeared. Then another, and finally the mother came to cap off the group.
Their sing-songy language and accents tipped me off to their nationality - not to mention their uniquely Dutch personas. (The kindness of the Dutch is so great that it borders on being a little creepy.)
After being in line for an hour and only moving 100 yards or so, I knew that my chances of making it into the rally were plummeting. Time lethargically passed. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like days.
Soon enough, sometime between hours two and three it started: the Dutch family behind me, in an attempt to pass the time, broke out in song. Dutch song, naturally.
That was when my mood turned from moderate discontent to borderline hysteria.
"When are we going to get out of this line?! Where the hell is Obama?!"
The Dutch folk songs dragged on, muddled together with some American campfire-type medleys.
Soon, though, the line picked up pace. We neared the entrance. The light was in sight!
Just then an Obama volunteer climbed up on a nearby brick wall and announced the inevitable.
Don't get me wrong: C-SPAN has lured me in often enough with its rip-roaringly captivating programs that I've had plenty of chances to watch Obama's stump speech.
Rather, I was really just trying to observe the habits of Eugenians (Eugeners?) during such a massive event.
Sure enough, liberals swarmed like flies to electric zappers in order to catch a glimpse of the personification of inspiration. So many, in fact, that my hopes were soon shattered at the sight of thousands upon thousands of eager Oregonians in lines that snaked around the entire neighborhood.
As soon as I found the back of the line - which took about an hour to do - I found myself in front of a continuously growing Dutch family.
At first there was only the father and daughter. Then a son appeared. Then another, and finally the mother came to cap off the group.
Their sing-songy language and accents tipped me off to their nationality - not to mention their uniquely Dutch personas. (The kindness of the Dutch is so great that it borders on being a little creepy.)
After being in line for an hour and only moving 100 yards or so, I knew that my chances of making it into the rally were plummeting. Time lethargically passed. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like days.
Soon enough, sometime between hours two and three it started: the Dutch family behind me, in an attempt to pass the time, broke out in song. Dutch song, naturally.
That was when my mood turned from moderate discontent to borderline hysteria.
"When are we going to get out of this line?! Where the hell is Obama?!"
The Dutch folk songs dragged on, muddled together with some American campfire-type medleys.
Soon, though, the line picked up pace. We neared the entrance. The light was in sight!
Just then an Obama volunteer climbed up on a nearby brick wall and announced the inevitable.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
snarbagel
posted 5/16/08 @ 2:32 PM PST
My confidence is in Hillary Clinton. Besides having the better qualifications, the math of the Electoral College is hugely in her favor.
snarbagel
snarbagel
posted 5/16/08 @ 2:33 PM PST
My confidence is in Hillary Clinton. Besides having the better qualifications, the math of the Electoral College is hugely in her favor.
SamP
SamP
posted 5/20/08 @ 1:21 AM PST
Now, that this whole Rev. Wright thing & Rev. James Meeks & then the Obama/Odinga (it's not a good thing to campaign for your Kenyan cousin when his supporters torch churches burning people alive)---and now, we find out that whole "never been a muslim" thing is a LIE--turns out in his book Obama talks about "getting in trouble for making faces during Koranic Studies" and NYTimes Bill Kristol reported in 3/6/207 "Obama: Man of The World" that "Mr. (Continued…)
Mr. Nunley
posted 5/20/08 @ 6:33 PM PST
Obama is not a Muslim. Period.
He's been a 20-year member of an anti-American church based on the black theology of James Cone developed during the radical 1960s. (Continued…)
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