Note to Obamatons: We mock your pain

If you're an Obama supporter, the only possible reaction to uber-establishmentarian political journalist Dana Milbank's Sunday column in the Washington Post is a painful wince. Take, for example, these cutting words:

It was bound to happen eventually. Obama had become to his youthful supporters a vessel for all of their liberal hopes. They saw him as a transformational figure who would end war, save the Earth from global warming, restore the economy -- and still be home for dinner. They lashed out at anybody who dared to suggest that Obama was just another politician, subject to calculation, expediency and vanity like all the rest.

Certainly, Obama gets some blame for encouraging the messianic cult as he stumped for change and hope. "I am asking you to stop settling for what the cynics say we have to accept," he would say as he wrapped up speeches. "Let us reach for what we know is possible: A nation healed. A world repaired. An America that believes again."

In other cases, Obama truly has gone back on campaign vows. Even some of his advisers are disappointed that he has moved so slowly to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. Civil libertarians are justifiably disappointed with his decision to continue much of the Bush administration secrecy. Clean-government types are understandably frustrated that Obama vowed that lobbyists "will not get a job in my White House" but now grants waivers so that lobbyists can work in key administration jobs.

 Milbank closes:

This is what happens when true believers mistake a mortal for a messiah.

"Messianic," "true believers," "Church of Obama," "false prophet" -- Milbank pounds home the point that Barack Obama spawned (and encouraged) a cult of personality. Inevitably let down, his once-blind devotees increasingly become disillusioned cynics.

Of course, Milbank raises these concerns over a year after the election, but better late than never, I guess. Although, to be honest, Milbank -- who has left-of-center credentials dating back to his college days -- ranked relatively early among those who thought Obama was getting a little ahead of himself.