Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.

James Baldwin

President-elect Barack Obama’s busy schedule yesterday of epic-length non-hybrid motorcades (11:00 a.m.: En route TBA. 12:05 p.m.: En route TBA. 1:45 p.m.: En route TBA. 2:55 p.m.: En route TBA. 5:20 p.m.: En route TBA.) was interrupted by what we may, as Jules once did, describe as a “moment of clarity.” For perhaps the first time since the beginning of this campaign, Barack Obama finally realized who he is, and the power of what he represents.

In his closed door meeting with House Democrats this evening, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger. According to a witness, he was waxing lyrical about last week’s trip to Europe, when he concluded, “this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.”

“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions,” he said.

As Dana Milbank refers to it, Obama’s “adoration session” with House Democrats came at the end of a day spent serving the needs of mankind. The Obama, so generous with his time, spent a good portion of the day at a fundraiser at the Mayflower Hotel, where any common man or woman could have a picture taken with him for a mere $10,000. $10,000! Such a bargain for a brief touch of the aura of the lightbringer! Can you imagine the spiritual benefit of being in the incredible presence of this … I am sorry, I was going to write “man,” but I mean: SYMBOL?

Parting with mere money for this opportunity is a no-brainer, my friends. How much would you have paid for a Polaroid with St. Peter? Well, now you can meet the Symbol who gave him the keys in the first place.

Humility makes great men indeed. “It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion,” Calvin Coolidge said. We are glad that Obama has seen fit to heal himself – he knows what he represents now, to America, to the World, to the Hosts of Heaven.

He is beyond us now – it is not enough to say that women want him, and men want to be him. He has become the HopeChange of our Generation, who exceeds all our greatest dreams of what humanity could achieve in this mortal sphere.

Consider: even the facts bend for him now, as the reeds of the Nile from whence he was taken in a basket. One need only examine the scene that played out in the midst of last week’s otherwise fawning coverage of Obama’s long overdue trip to Iraq, in which he was accompanied by all three anchors of the broadcast news as befits the travels of any Symbol (some might say the three mewed and cowered at the heels of the New Yeshua as cerberus in toy poodle form, but they are the non-believers, and deserve only to be shunned).

After meeting with top U.S. military brass, talking with soldiers at a gym rally, and engaging in as limited media opportunities as possible, Obama sat down for a brief interview for Nightline with ABC’s Terry Moran, a skeptic and a doubter, who posed a dangerous and heretical question:

“The surge of U.S. troops, combined with ordinary Iraqis’ rejection of both al Qaeda and Shiite extremists has transformed the country,” said Moran. “Attacks are down more than 80 percent nationwide. U.S. combat casualties have plummeted, with five this month so far, compared with 78 last July. And Baghdad has a pulse again. … If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you support the surge?”

“No, because,” Sen. Obama responded, “keep in mind that, that…”

The incredulous Moran couldn’t help himself, interrupting: “You wouldn’t?”

“Well, no, keep in mind – these kinds of hypotheticals are very difficult,” Sen. Obama said. “You know, hindsight is 20/20. But I think that what I am absolutely convinced of is that at that time, we had to change the political debate, because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with.”

There is no audacity in this statement. The Obama merely suggests that his position opposing this critical and now undeniably successful military strategy was adopted, in opposition to the strongly held opinion of men like Gen. David Petraeus, for the purpose of “chang[ing] the political debate.”

You may think this is a demonstration of callous disregard for the very real consequences of a decision impacting the lives of millions and the future of an entire region. But remember that only a year and a half ago, Obama introduced his Iraq War De-Escalation Act in that soon-to-be discarded institution known as the United States Senate (what need have we for checks and balances when we have this man in the White House?), calling for a phased redeployment that would have commenced no later than May 1, 2007, and removed all American troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008.

There is no subtlety to Obama’s January 2007 plan – no malleable phrases, no wiggle room, no possibility for misinterpretation. The facts are clear: he emphatically opposed the strategy that made possible nearly all of the gains made over the past year and a half, in which brave men and women from our nation and others have laid down their lives to give the Iraqi people hope – not hope for a politician, but for a future Sen. Obama never believed in.

But his otherwise irrational opposition can now be explained, you see. Yes, even the mainstream media now admits the surge policy they once opposed has been an overwhelming success. Yet this is not a man, not just a candidate – he must be a Symbol for us, not a mere politician.

“We had to change,” the Adonis invokes his watchword, his handsome eyes shining with the depth of a galaxy of stars, “the political debate.”

You see, Obama’s policy for withdrawal came at a time when he wanted to clearly focus the minds of Democratic primary voters on his opposition to the unpopular war effort, and create distance between his pure anti-war record and that of former war supporters and total heretics Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. By embracing fully the doctrine of surrender, favoring running from the field in spite of the recommendations of the wisest and most experienced military minds, Obama achieved his purpose, and changed the political debate in the Democratic Primary. This had to be done, you understand, not because it was right, but because it was necessary: for this was a moment the world has been waiting for, foreordained since the foundations of the planet, and even Obama could not argue with the Fates.

Of course Obama considered the results of his politically motivated view, had it prevailed in 2007. Of course he weighed the results for the Iraqi people of a nation lost in chaos – measured the price to the global economy of a Middle East that could spend a generation locked in civil war – and paused to consider how many lives, so many of them the lives of young Americans, would have been lost in vain had his argument won the day. But do you not see: these are the costs we must be prepared to bear for the sake of this moment of achievement, not just for ourselves, but for the whole human race.

So come! Exult! Make a joyful noise! Dance in the streets with garlands of the finest flowers! Sing glorious hymns of praise to the firmament above! Behold – the Son of Man comes, riding upon a golden ass!

The weight of His glory is a heavy burden, indeed – but He will bear it, yes, for you and for me.