Obama Lola Lola

As OTR sits gazing across the early fall pastels in his woods, he thinks of the incredible seduction of the American voter by Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in 2008. How could the electorate make such a poor decision? Emotions and unrealistic expectations? Yes. Looking back, it's almost laughable how easily people can be deceived. But we live dangerously without reason and practicality. The great German director Josef von Sternberg captured this to perfection in his 1930 film classsic, Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel).

Der Engel is a cabaret featuring the stunningly beautiful Lola Lola - Marlene Dietrich - as its star performer. She encounters an accidental - and most innocent - patron, Professor Immanuel Rath - Emil Jennings - whose infatuation with her leads him to a sad end.
The following scene - Lola's flirting, Rath's almost child-like behavior - is a perfect analogy to Obama's 2008 performance and the voter response:

Downright sleazy, wasn't it. Just like the campaign rhetoric, in hindsight.

This performance - like Obama's - was star-quality. Fortunately, Dietrich's talents were such that she went on to a fifty year career as one of the world's most cherished entertainers.  Not so for Obama. Perhaps he could have a future if the Chautauqua movement, less its religious accessory, spontaneously revived.