When I received word that a trusted BlogTalkRadio listener who enjoyed being very involved with a number of shows was a fraud, it did not anger me.
TigerBo was what I call a BTR Connoisseur. He was entertaining, and said everything that one would hope a hero would have to say. TigerBo's exploits reached far and wide, according to him. He claimed to be a thirty-year Marine Corps Veteran with extensive battlefield experience, and a love for this nation that seemed to articulate itself in ways that we all wish we could portray.
But, alas, it turns out that Lt. Col. TigerBo Dawson was never a Marine, his daughters are not in the Marine Corps, and his dead wife is alive and well.
When confronted with this news, it did not make me angry, but I was disappointed. As a Christian, and a Conservative, I have a natural desire to trust people, and to believe them to be who they say they are. I suppose you could say that because of my belief that people are genuine, I am a wee-bit gullible when it comes to taking people at face value. One would think that when confronted by such deception as experienced with TigerBo, it would harden me. That it would make me not desire to trust any of my Internet acquaintances again. But in reality, all it does is strengthen me.
Yes, I will continue to be vigilant in recognizing red flags, and there were many with TigerBo, but I will tend to believe people are who they say they are - nothing more, nothing less.
TigerBo's deception reminds me of another deception - one of Barack Hussein Obama.
While on the campaign trail he promised he would have the most transparent presidency ever. Obama was portrayed as somebody that would somehow transcend past politics, and he was promising the best of all worlds - liberal and conservative policies. He promised to bring universal health care to America (a liberal idea), while also granting tax cuts to 95% of the people (a conservative idea). But, in the end, like TigerBo, Barack Obama has turned out to be a deceptive fraud.
President Obama's tax breaks are becoming tax increases. His domestic agenda is becoming a deficit nightmare. And even in the face of nationwide anger by the voters, he continues to believe his own lies.
I am not angry at Obama, either. I suppose he did what anybody would do in his shoes. It was set up nicely. A real president, a real commander in chief, preceded him, and Obama had to be bigger than George W. Bush. Sure the Democrat Party spent tireless hours knocking Bush down a few steps the best they could. On a few of those things they weren't entirely off the mark. George W. Bush well deserved some of the criticism. Bush never saw a spending bill he didn't like, he tried to integrate big government into the school system with his ridiculous "No Child Left Behind" act (which was really a Ted Kennedy bill), his willingness to sign on to amnesty for illegal aliens angered the political Right, and Bush signed on to the abandonment of the free market system at the end of his presidency when he signed the stimulus bill.
When it came to protecting this nation, and when it came to being a genuine individual, Bush stood tall. He was criticized for his occasional mistakes and mishaps, errors in English, and downright genuine humanity. But all of those things were indications of who George W. Bush really was. Despite standing tall as an effective Commander in Chief, he was a genuine human being who loves the military, and loves this nation.
Barack Obama was presented as someone who transcends human nature. He is some kind of elite intellectual, they tried to make us believe - I suppose something all of us wish we could be to one degree or another. Obama presented himself as a fantastic orator, a moral religious man, and a president that would ascend to heights that no presidency was able to ascend to before.
But, alas, like TigerBo, Barack Obama is none of the things he claimed to be. Obama is not the great unifier he convinced a nation he was. He is nothing more than a typical politician, hungry for power, and desperate for recognition of his legacy.
Unfortunately for Barack Obama, like TigerBo, nobody is going to remember the things Obama said he is, or promised he'd do. How he will be remembered is the same way TigerBo will be remembered - as a deceptive fraud.
So the great TigerBo, the warrior of the ages, the man who had been blown up on the field of battle is not TigerBo at all. TigerBo is dead, and in his place stands a frail, lonely, shell of a man named John.
And Barack Obama is not the great savior of America that he promised he is. He is not transparent, nor a tax-cutter, nor a unifying president. In the end, it turns out that the great Barack Obama is dead, and in his place stands a frail, lonely, shell of a man named Barry.
I am not angry, but I am disappointed.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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