Think of this as Volume 12, Number 14 of A-Clue.com, the online newsletter I've written since 1997. Enjoy.
I want what I'm about to say to be as non-partisan and objective as possible.
The new guy? He can do the job.
If Republicans were not so busy dismissing his politics I'm certain they would admit, too, that Barack Obama does a good job of being President. Certainly they can see the Reaganesque quality in him, the Teddy Roosevelt fondness for the "bully pulpit," and the love of language in a trying time that became Lincoln's gift to history.
If he were on their side they would love him to pieces.
Try this exercise. Separate the style from the substance. Pretend this is the new Republican President, that he is selling your policies as well as he's selling those of the Democrats.
But with all Presidents there is the substance. And here's what I realized about the Obama Thesis of Consensus just this week. It's not just about us. The essence of it is for everyone around the world to chill, to take a beat, and to find where we agree, then work outward, rather than the other way around. That's the essence of the story (possibly apocryphal) being spread this week about Obama, Sarkozy and Hu Jintao.
Once we can find common ground, even a little bit, even if it's watered down, we become invested in one another. We can smile, joke, see the humanity in the other person.
Humanize, don't dehumanize.
All this runs counter to both the Nixon Thesis of Conflict and the Clinton AntiThesis which rose to meet it, the assumptions built into both parties for a generation, the forces driving Howard Dean as well as Eric Cantor.
For a generation we have treated politics in this country as a zero-sum game, which is contrary to the vision of the founders. If the President has been clear about anything, since he first stepped on the national stage, it is that his mission is to end that.
The assumption of conflict, of politics as war, drives our media as well as ourselves. The idea of compromise and common ground are lost to every single talking head on the TeeVee. There is no such thing as policy at CNN or Fox or MSNBC. There is only politics. There is only win and lose. That's not the way the world is. That's not even the way Washington really works, because it's a town of owners, not renters, people who spend decades poisoning the atmosphere against one another.
The President seeks to raise us out of that darkness into the light, but it's a project that will take more time to accomplish.
Style is also substance, and the governing style of this President is spot-on. Whether he is selling his priorities to the people, or evolving them with his advisers, the President always talks "we" in a world of "I". This is what great stars do. This is the way the best NFL quarterbacks behave. It's how their coaches behave. The President has absorbed the lesson. (If he reminds me of any actual athlete it's probably Henry Aaron, another #44.)
As to the President's choice of advisers. He set high ethics rules deliberately, and it's now clear why. His rules not only exclude most of the CEOs who inhabited the Bush Administrations, but the lobbyists who inhabited the Clinton Administration. What we're left with are academics and state officials, a unique talent pool that is hard to bribe because most of it is motivated by something other than money.
I could go on. I could talk about Michelle Obama, the most overqualified First Lady ever (Princeton B.A., Harvard Law), who digs in her own lawn, who wears J. Crew, and who provides a modern example of mothering and wifely love both feminists and anti-feminists can relate to. I could talk about the enjoyment the President gets out of his job, the way he shares his enjoyment of its perks, or about the President's own work-life balance, how he manages somehow to spend more time with his wife and kids than he did before becoming President.
All I can really do, though, is pray. Pray that we can keep this man as our President for as long as possible. Pray that some asshat doesn't think that taking him out will help some cause, and act successfully on that insanity. Pray that his heart stays strong, that no cancer or other horrible affliction comes to him, that we can enjoy and savor the man and his moment.
God smiles on fools, on naive children, and on the United States of America.
To date, his financial appointees are certainly not of high ethical quality. They are bought and paid for by Wall Street. I don’t know if he has the guts to choose those who don’t buy into the what’s good for Wall Street is good for Main Street rhetoric.
I do hope you are proven right and soon.
To date, his financial appointees are certainly not of high ethical quality. They are bought and paid for by Wall Street. I don’t know if he has the guts to choose those who don’t buy into the what’s good for Wall Street is good for Main Street rhetoric.
I do hope you are proven right and soon.
I agree. He exudes confidence and humility at the same time. He HAS to survive these first four years – the assholes of America are working themselves into a frenzy, and that frenzy is about to explode. Survive that, and he will be re-elected.
“Regular Joes” seem willing to give him a chance. They have patience (they have no choice.) If only the media would do the same…
I agree. He exudes confidence and humility at the same time. He HAS to survive these first four years – the assholes of America are working themselves into a frenzy, and that frenzy is about to explode. Survive that, and he will be re-elected.
“Regular Joes” seem willing to give him a chance. They have patience (they have no choice.) If only the media would do the same…
Interesting blog — I’m going to read more. I think you’re right about Obama. I feel like even where I disagree with him, he’s not acting out of ideological fervor or some kind of fantasy that he can ‘democratize the Mideast’ or whatever. I get the sense he understands things and is making logical judgments. I get the sense he lacks the kind of arrogance about America too many politicians have had, so used to the Cold War days when the US was the “leader.” It’s nice to actually believe the person in the White House is up to the job and can be trusted.
Interesting blog — I’m going to read more. I think you’re right about Obama. I feel like even where I disagree with him, he’s not acting out of ideological fervor or some kind of fantasy that he can ‘democratize the Mideast’ or whatever. I get the sense he understands things and is making logical judgments. I get the sense he lacks the kind of arrogance about America too many politicians have had, so used to the Cold War days when the US was the “leader.” It’s nice to actually believe the person in the White House is up to the job and can be trusted.