Fight Fire with Fire, or Fire Extinguishers?
I've been away for awhile. We elected Obama, so I'm not in such a word-warrior mood. But I had to pop back in after all the brouhaha over some of Obama's choices, be they for his cabinet or for his inauguration (::cough::Warren::cough::). I have no problem with people disagreeing with Obama; Lincoln's quote about the impossibility of pleasing all the people all the time clarified that piece of reality for me a long time ago.
But I'm saddened to see so many Democrats and Liberals attacking him for it. Why?
Because we are finally in power, and when we sharpen the knives and cry havoc over even the smaller decisions, we are acting like the Right Wing Haters whom we've resented for so long. Is that really all we see of our future in this country? That the leadership must volley between haters of one side or haters of the other? Or is there even the chance to do what Obama promised, and help CHANGE the way this country is run? No, not by changing every person--that really would be impossible enough to justify Hillary Clinton's "clouds will part and angels will sing" mockery from the primaries. All we have to do is change the majority of the country, and we do that by, in Ghandi's words, being the change we want to see in this world.
The argument that the Republicans and Conservatives acted that way when THEY were in power is a childish one. It's no more imaginative than an eye for an eye (leaving everyone blind) or fighting fire with fire.
How about believing that there are better options which, as the party in power, we can attempt to enact?
How about thinking outside the box--and inventing fire extinguishers?
The difference here - and it is significant - is that the Republican right-wing loonies always turned their hate on those of us who disagreed with them. What is happening now is that the people - ostansibly on our side - who will never be satisfied unless everything is just exactly the way they want it, and NOW, DAMMIT!, have turned their knives and hate on someone who quite possibly will be their strongest ally over the long haul. Someone who realizes that a society of this scale will not change overnight, no matter how we might want it to. Someone with the sense to lead, rather than try pushing. Someone who will get people invested in caring about the future, so it becomes their future, not someone else's. Someone whose choice to deliver a footnote of an invocation will be forgotten by the time the crowd disperses.
I wonder how they go about stinging a bee?
December 23, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. I do not deny the dissenters their upset or their opinions. I'd just like to hope that our METHODS could change. They can and should challenge Obama's choices--Obama himself, thank heavens, wants to be held accountable. But when they do so with screeds of hatred and counter-intolerance, they aren't improving the country. All great empires have died from the inside out. That gives us a great opportunity to try to heal ours from the inside out as well--by changing our methods.
December 23, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with the sentiments here. I see an opportunity in Obama's presidency not so much to revolutionize society, rewrite policy on a grand scale, or reinvent the country, but rather to make liberal policies mainstream again and clear the way for those large-scale reforms in the coming years. It would be nice if one man alone could give us lefties everything on our wishlist, but it ain't going to happen -- and frankly, if one man can do it, one man can take it away in 4-8 years. It's not about changing the debates, it's about shifting the ground on which we hold those debates. Rick Warren is saying a prayer. When he starts setting policy, I'll get my marching shoes on. If Obama hedges on repealing the DOMA, I'll get pissed off. But this? This is nothing in the scheme of things.
December 23, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Depending upon my mood, vengeance can be fun.
But this New Administration is demonstrating that it is shrewd, it is extremely smart and above all, it has goals that it wishes to attain.
Transform the manner in which this nation does business. As Miguel might put it, making it so that capitalism does not translate into organized crime.
Setting up our economy so that there it has more of an egalitarian tone to it. Removing the reliance upon trickle down fantasies.
Taking the country in a greener direction.
Getting us to a point where energy independence is not just a sound bite.
Providing health coverage to all.
Transformation at the time of crisis.
Good post.
December 23, 2008 7:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The stench of the Bush/Cheney "If you're not with us, you must be against us" mentality has been pressure-cooked into us for the last 8 years. Liberal/progressives who are raising all this Hell don't realize that they're reacting in kind because it's become ingrained in their mindset to do so. They are the yin to Bush/Cheney's yang.
As with any stench, it takes time and the soap and water of reason to eliminate--but it WILL happen. We just need to protect these folks from themselves for a while.
December 23, 2008 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good, good point.
One idiot on MSNBC was ARGUING that Obama is celebrity. That was the best he could come up with.
That somehow appearing on the cover of People Magazine proves something bad.
It is going to be fun watching and listening to sour grapes over the New Year.
December 23, 2008 10:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just one has to look at the Cheney approach to the energy policy and remember how those on the left said that they should be allowed at the table even though the administration, and those on the right, didn't agree with everything or most of everything we thought about the approach to energy. That we should at the very least have our say on the record even if it is later ignored.
December 24, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink