“Obama’s Hellenic Hubris”

Victor Davis Hanson reviews the imperial trappings of Obama’s Berlin speech and his DNC acceptance speech at Invesco Field, and is moved to ask this obvious question:

Isn’t there one sane person on his staff who can stop this divine madness, a single henchman who can whisper in his ear as puts on his golden crown not Vero possumus (”Yes! We can!”), but as was true of returning heroes during  Roman Triumphs—”Respica te, hominem te memento” (”Watch behind you; remember you’re just a man!”)?

Ah, but Obama is not just a hero. He is the Messiah!

UPDATE: The Roman columns inspired Bridget Johnson to recall another historical parallel:

The palatial columns that made up the gaudy “West Wing” stage at Obama’s acceptance production reminded me of the cheesy set design in swords-and-sandals epics. But what really popped into my head was the image of Peter Ustinov as Nero in “Quo Vadis?” — “Do I live for the people or do the people live for me? … These people expect me to shine both day and night!”