LOOK IT UP

It’s right there in Webster’s Dictionary.

a•bom•i•na•tion

1. anything abominable; anything greatly disliked or abhorred.
2. intense aversion or loathing; detestation: He regarded lying with abomination.
3. a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc.: Spitting in public is an abomination.

You can also find it in the Bible.

Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 both talk about the “abomination of desolation” which biblical scholars generally believe refers to the then forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Old Testament references suggest that the elevation and worship of false gods was called an abomination.

As the long and ruthless Republican Primary season grinds to a finish, the silhouette of the November election begins to take shape.

However the Republican candidate chooses to frame the issues, the decision of the American people will inexorably focus on one and only one question.

Should President Barack Obama be continued in office for another four years?

Party platforms can be written and re-written, diced, sliced and seasoned to taste, but they will have only a peripheral effect on the outcome in November.

The sitting President is, by all measurement, a celebrity. He has the admiration and respect of many, perhaps most, of his fellow Americans. He is long on charm and a disarming chutzpah. His oratorical skills, with and without a teleprompter, are legendary.

Shooting hoops behind the White House, bantering knowledgably with sports icons, and exchanging quips with Jay Leno, his ubiquitous television persona is known and loved across the land.

A devoted family man, our President, however opaque his personal history, has never shown signs of the zipper mania that has taken down so many in public life.

The President gives the impression that he genuinely cares about people, understands their concerns, appreciates their struggles, shares their worries, feels their pain.

But if Barack Obama presents a benign visage to the electorate, he also makes no bones about asserting the power and prerogatives of the office he holds.

He is quick to remind people that he is the President of the United States. He relishes and enjoys all the perks of the offices, melds the personal with the political and the official, and never hesitates to use the first person singular when talking about public affairs.

Convinced that what he wants to do is good for the American people, he slashes through the red tape of democratic decision making to issue orders, make appointments, and render judgments.

He lauds what he likes and condemns what he doesn’t. Jumps on every hot button issue of the day, when his gut tells him that his position will be cheered by the masses.

His political instincts are off the charts.

And his capacity to qualify, explain, soften, ignore, deny or simply contradict what he says is boundless.

In short, Barack Obama presents to the American people what many, many of his fellow citizens really want from their government.

A benign, loving and lovable dictator.

In his view, neither Court, nor Congress nor Constitution can stand in the way of what he wants to do for the people who have elected him their leader.

In November we will decide if the United States is a Republic as Benjamin Franklin said.

Or if it is an Obama-nation.