I start with this quote from the movie Funny Farm:

We came to Redbud filled with hopes and dreams of a better life. And basically, we’ve seen those hopes and dreams crushed and battered before our very eyes.

Another good quote might be “life is a lemon and I want my money back”, the title of  a Meatloaf song.

Or perhaps this timeless gem:

Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get. ~ Mark Twain

All deal with the same essential topic, that of expectations, or more tellingly, of failed expectations.

We apply expectations to all facets of our lives.  As a part of our hopes and dreams we build a future in our heads.  We set ourselves on the path to achieve that  future dream.  Our expectation is simply how we expect that dream to manifest.

Reality is what we end up with, and the two rarely are remotely similar let alone in sync.

It happens in all facets of life, this buyers remorse.  See the ad on TV for the product, and order it only to find out that it does not operate nearly as easily as advertised.  It’s really simple why:  we believe the hype.

We believe the hype of advertised products.  We buy into the slick ads and images.  We trust in the claims and promises of politicians.  And often we fool ourselves into not believing what our eyes tell us, but believing what we see.

You see, while the proverbial snake oil salesmen often tantalize us with dreams and vague promises, often the snake oil salesmen is ourself.

We want the pretty package, the perfect life, the American Dream, and we will cling to those who promise it to us, regardless of whether they have any reasonable expectation of delivery.

Obama faces this now.  During the campaign his promises were legion and his followers convinced themselves that with Obama elected, they would get their dreams fulfilled.

Sadly he was never in a position to meet all those promises and dreams, and sooner or later there will be a rolling blackout of buyers remorse as various aspects of the Obama myth are revealed to be nothing more than fancy gilded promises made on the campaign trail.

Consider this story in the NY Daily News: ¹

Not long ago, after a string of especially bad days for the Obama administration, a veteran Democratic pol approached me with a pained look on his face and asked, “Do you think they know what they’re doing?”

The question caught me off guard because the man is a well-known Obama supporter. As we talked, I quickly realized his asking suggested his own considerable doubts.

…

Polls show that most people like Obama, but they increasingly don’t like his policies. The vast spending hikes and plans for more are provoking the most concern, with 82% telling a Gallup survey they are worried about the deficit and 69% worried about the rapid growth of government under Obama. Most expect their own taxes will go up as a result, despite the President’s promises to the contrary.

None other than Warren Buffet, an Obama supporter, has called the administration’s message on the economy “muddled.” Even China says it is worried about its investments in American Treasury bonds. Ouch.

…

Which brings us to the heart of the matter: the doubts about Obama himself. His famous eloquence is wearing thin through daily exposure and because his actions are often disconnected from his words. His lack of administrative experience is showing.

His promises and policies contradict each other often enough that evidence of hypocrisy is ceasing to be news. Remember the pledges about bipartisanship and high ethics? They’re so last year.

The beat goes on. Last week, Obama brazenly gave a speech about earmark reform just after he quietly signed a $410 billion spending bill that had about 9,000 earmarks in it. He denounced Bush’s habit of disregarding pieces of laws he didn’t like, so-called signing statements, then issued one himself.

And in an absolute jaw-dropper, he told business leaders, “I don’t like the idea of spending more government money, nor am I interested in expanding government’s role.”

No wonder Americans are confused. Our President is, too.

So you may ask yourself, why is he facing so much scrutiny and hostility?  Is this just a partisan ploy? 

I think it is no secret that some republicans want him to fail simply because he is a democrat.

That’s what partisan means.  And despite Nancy Pelosi’s lame and hollow suggestions to the contrary, congress and politics in general, is nothing but partisan in nature.

But some of the blame is Obama’s as he allowed himself to be elevated to such an intensely high level of expectation, his fall from grace was almost assured.  No one is that good, nor can they be in the mire we call government.

But sadly, much of the blame is not just his.  After all, politicians have been promising the world during campaigns for as long as there have been….well, campaigns.

No, we the people must take some of that blame unto ourselves.  Sure, it is true that we believed him and others like him because they were convincing, and because they exploited our needs and dreams.

But come on.  We are not sheep, despite what Mike Savage believes, we are intelligent people.  Sooner or later we need to accept that sometimes, heck quite often, we believe the promises because it is easier to believe than it is to not believe.  We can place our trust in them, and it relieves us of the responsibility of action.

And in that worst case scenario, we can walk away, convince ourselves that it is Someone Else’s fault, and then put our victim hat back on and wait for the next round of lies.

Yes I know, that is a very cynical way of seeing it, but I cannot see it any other way when we are constantly facing the same situating over and over.

Politician makes promise.  Politicians fails to deliver.  We act surprised.

Then lather rinse and repeat. 

Of course it is not just politics.   We do this all the time. 

I myself express my personal guilt.  I have areas in my life where my optimism and expectations were doomed by my own refusal to accept facts, that often the facts right in front of my face.

I won’t go into that now.  Maybe some day.  Maybe not.

But I too suffer my own brand of buyers remorse, and I too will have to accept the fact that I was not mislead as much as I mislead myself.   I am not a victim, at best I am just a fool. 

Or maybe I am normal.

You see, like so many other things in life, this is a case where more often than not, we are our worst enemy.

It may not be a pleasant thought, but at least it is realistic.

I leave you with this:

The ingenuity of self-deception is inexhaustible ~ Hannah Moore

Don’t cross the stream to find water. ~ Norwegian Proverb

LSU

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