I was reading the Times this morning and came upon a letter to the editor chastising the nation for being too hard on its brand new President.  While I agree that the nation needs a chillaxative, we've still got to be careful not to OD on 'em.  Because when you do, this is the kind of crap you start spewing:

Instead of projecting our fear, let’s begin to get to know this person in whom we’ve placed our boundless hope and capacity for love.

Look, if you're placing  your "boundless hope and capacity for love" in the President of the United States, it could be time to seek professional help. 

Alternatively, you could stop writing to your newspaper.  Because when I read letters to the editor like this it really and truly frightens me.  That otherwise literate and articulate people can be so desperate, and desperately confused is destroying my hope and capacity for love.  Don't get me wrong: I'm all for supporting our President.  But this is borderline-pathological Celebrity Worship Syndrome, a step away from stalking. 

Not only that.  These folks are just the flipside of the wackos who claimed Bush was the next best thing to Jesus in the White House.  Yet more proof, as if any more were needed, that psychos and sycophants come in all political persuasions. 

The next step for those who've placed their boundless hope and capacity for love in someone who cannot possibly reciprocate it, is to angrily proclaim, as another letter writer to the Times today does: "I voted for Barack Obama, and I am severely disappointed, as are many of his supporters."

And?  What do you want, a Kewpie doll for finally getting your head out of your ass? 

I mean, really.  Whose fault is it that you're severely disappointed?  Is it really Barack Obama's?  Or is it actually a function of your own personality disorder?

I'll tell you this much:  recession really brings out the worst in people.