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THE WISDOM OF OBAMA
12/18/2008
The first reaction many of us had to President-elect Barack Obama choosing Rick Warren - of the infamous presidential candidate forum at Saddleback Church – to give the invocation at his inauguration was one of disgust and outrage. It was obvious at the "forum" that Warren, regardless of what he said about being friends of both candidates, favored McCain and his answers to the questions that McCain obviously knew ahead of time. That "cone of isolation" that Warren supposedly had McCain in while Warren interviewed Obama was clearly a fiction. The result was a big boost for McCain, who appeared relaxed and comfortable with the man who clearly supported him.
Warren, a multimillionaire author and megachurch pastor, is a slick salesman and clearly shares the views of radical religious wingers like James Dobson, including his anti-gay sentiments. A lot of Obama supporters, especially gay supporters, are rightly insulted and angry. They wonder what this means for their causes, including marriage equality and an end to the "Don't ask, don't tell" rule in the military. They fear their candidate has betrayed them.
Some of us also wonder about Obama's cabinet picks. Few are as progressive as we would like, and some – like Hillary Clinton – are much more moderate than we are comfortable with. We see an awful lot of former Clintonites in the mix and we fear Obama not following through on the change we thought we voted for.
I would like to suggest that our worries are unnecessary. Obama may not be acting quite as progressive as we would like him to act – at this point, anyway – but he is obviously much closer to power than we are, and has proven himself much wiser and more crafty than his opponents. In the past, during the campaign, whenever we, as well as the media, started second guessing his strategy, certain he would be defeated, convinced he was doing the wrong thing, we and they were always wrong and he was always right.
Barack Obama is a man who knows what he is doing, but we don't trust him yet. He sends signals that he is willing to embrace enemies and those who disagree with him, that he is willing to listen to rivals before making a decision and that frightens us. We think listening means agreeing. We think he is turning his back on those who supported him most, the progressive community, and we wonder what is going on. Before he even enters the White House as president, we are attacking him and some of his decisions.
Why don't we trust him yet?
Precisely because we have suffered through eight years of an administration that was secretive and completely untrustworthy, as well as downright hostile to differing opinions. Because we have lived through an ideologically conservative, and operationally undemocratic administration. Because we have lived through an administration that rejected everything we believed in and wished for in our nation. Because Bush, Cheney, and their administration threw their ideology and their decisions in our faces when they started illegal and immoral wars, approved torture and the suspension of habeas corpus, allowed a city to drown, rejected science, invaded our bedrooms, let climate changes continue unchecked, rammed unwise tax cuts, and reckless fiscal policy down our throats, allowing the economy to head towards depression, gave no-bid contracts to their cronies, did nothing to end our dependence on oil, and refused to listen to anyone whose opinion differed from theirs.
We don't trust Obama precisely because we couldn't trust our last president. We are suffering from Post Bush Stress Disorder (PBSD) and inability to trust is but one symptom. Other symptoms include overreacting to the new president's decisions, suspiciousness, losing hope easily, fear of betrayal, and lack of patience. Simply put, after enduring eight horrible years of terrible and untrustworthy governance, we are bracing ourselves for four more years from the man we want to trust, from the man we did trust, because he isn't doing everything the way we expect him to.
We have to do something about this. We have to have a little talk with ourselves about what we are doing because what we are doing is not helping us and will not help the new president. We voted for this man because we did trust him, and now we have to hold onto that trust even when he doesn't do exactly what we want him to.
Barack Obama is not George W. Bush. We have to stop thinking he is. Just because he has appointed some talented people who may not be as progressive as we would like doesn't mean he is betraying us. It means he is confident of his own views and is not afraid to hear from people who have other ideas.
We have to remember that Bush surrounded himself with ideologues, people whose views were identical to his own. Wouldn't we have felt a little better if we knew Bush was a big enough man, a wise enough man to allow dissenters in his ranks? Why is it so different for Obama? Just because we think we progressives are right and anyone who is not progressive is wrong? Isn't that rigid ideology? Can't we simply hold onto our original assessment of Obama, that he is a wise decision maker, and trust that he will listen to all sorts of opinions and ideas before making the final decision? Isn't that politics at its best – listening to all of America, not just your own corner of it? Isn't a big part of our objection to the conservative movement and the Bush administration that by sticking rigidly to one view they nearly destroyed this country?
Do we really want Obama to surround himself with an echo chamber of the sort the Republicans have created, where dissent is not allowed, and talking points go out from the White House to conservative commentators and politicians every day?
Or is it revenge we want? Are we so angry with those who have nearly destroyed this country, the conservatives aided and abetted by Republican and even some Democratic moderates, that we want none of them anywhere near Obama and the new administration? If so, we are excluding a very large part of America and continuing the terrible divide that started with Reagan and came to its peak with Bush.
Obama has consistently said he wants to unite this country, embrace those with whom he disagrees, and be the president of all of America, not just some of America. As troubling as it is to some of us, people like Rick Warren represent a large part of America.
But allowing Rick Warren to give the invocation doesn't mean Obama agrees with Warren in everything. In fact, the minister who will give the concluding benediction is someone who is very different, the polar opposite of Warren. That man is Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, a hero of the civil rights movement and the man who got a standing ovation at Coretta Scott King's funeral when he said this in front of President George W. Bush:
"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor."
Rev. Lowery has also publicly chastised some of his fellow preachers for preaching against gay rights. He says by doing this, they are focusing on distractions when they should be focusing on things like poverty. And he says, quoting Shakespeare, that they are protesting too much.
Obama is doing something very interesting here, by choosing Warren to open the Inaugural ceremony, and then having Lowery give the closing benediction. He is inviting people who follow Warren, who may disagree with Obama on many issues, to tune in to the ceremony when they might not otherwise do so. He is using Warren not just to signal he is listening to all of America, but to get that part of America that might not want to listen to Obama to watch the Inauguration and perhaps hear something new – not just Obama's address, which will be historical and elevating, an address for the ages, but also the words of Rev. Lowery. Even Rick Warren will have to hear the words of Joseph Lowery and realize how inclusive and amazing this new president will be.
Obama is also showing himself to be a true uniter, not just a lip service uniter like George W. Bush. Just as he is including people in his administration who may have less progressive views than he has, he is including people in the Inaugural ceremony that look at the world differently than he does. He is also showing how confident and secure and even forgiving he is to invite a man who clearly wanted him defeated in the election to open his Inaugural ceremony. George W. Bush may have told everyone he was a Christian. Barack Obama is showing everyone he is a Christian.
Barack Obama isn't just keeping his friends close and his enemies closer, as some have suggested he is doing, following the advice of Sun-tzu, the Chinese military strategist. He is doing all he can to listen to his "enemies" (though he doesn't consider them enemies) and invite them to listen to him. He is beginning his administration with an openness, a willingness to hear all sides of an issue, and an atmosphere of compromise, collaboration and unity. He is signaling that he rejects no one, and that disagreement – even on big issues – doesn't mean anyone is left out of the American family. By doing so, he is also inviting all Americans to open their minds and hearts to embrace that same inclusiveness, to consider an opinion other than their own.
Frankly, after eight years of divisiveness from the man who called himself "The Decider," I am ready for someone who wants us to focus on what we have in common, not what divides us. I'm ready for solutions that we can all embrace, even if they aren't the perfect ones ideologues, from either the left or the right, want.
I'm ready to trust this man who has proven himself talented and wise beyond his years. I voted for Obama because I saw that wisdom, that change, and I'm not about to attack him now when he shows just how much change he brings.
I cannot wait for January 20th, when the wisdom of an extraordinary man will finally guide our nation.
All content © 2005 outragedcitizen.com
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