Open Letter to Barack Obama from Alice Walker
Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We
knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely
daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate.

One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often
fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

Labels: alicewalker, letter, obama, soul

| posted by Unknown @ 11/07/2008 01:34:00 PM

This is My President

For the first time in my life I can say that, with all my heart, about a true statesman who "will listen, especially to those who disagree."

When I took the dog out for his walk tonight, after President-elect Obama's acceptance speech, it was onto University Avenue in Berkeley, past the victory party at re-elected Mayor Tom Bates' campaign office. Hundreds of automobile horns were constantly firing salvos of sound, strangers were waving and cheering and calling to each other, and hundreds swelled the street at Bancroft and Telegraph in front of the University in a peaceful and spirited street festival. It felt like what I imagine Victory in Europe celebrations might have been like, the difference being that, rather than returning to our shores after helping neighbors resist the fist of domination, after this victory, finally, my country may consider lifting its head again and re-enter world citizenship with eight years of shame behind it for being the purveyor of empire.

Coming home I passed four familiar homeless folks attempting to sleep on the concrete and pulling their blankets over their heads against the fierce chill and to mute the noise of a celebration they can't really share. Coming home past people who can't come home to hear about dear friends stripped of the right to marry the men and women they love, sobers me. Our President-elect sounded a similar note, not of triumph and victory over The Enemy but of getting down to the real work ahead - that of truly building an inclusive community that begins with measured and considerate listening, particularly to those who disagree.

That is public service at its finest and I am almost tearful not only for the honest pain that might finally get a hearing by an honest leader in power, but also with gratitude that I may feel proud once more to be an American.

====================

NICOLAS SARKOZY, FRENCH PRESIDENT

"With the world in turmoil and doubt, the American people, faithful to the values that have always defined America's identity, have expressed with force their faith in progress and the future.

"At a time when we must face huge challenges together, your election has raised enormous hope in France, in Europe and beyond."

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT

"I applaud the American people for their great decision and I hope that this new administration in the United States of America, and the fact of the massive show of concern for human beings and lack of interest in race and color while electing the president, will go a long way in bringing the same values to the rest of world sooner or later."

MWAI KIBAKI, KENYAN PRESIDENT

"We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots. Your victory is not only an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, but it has special resonance with us here in Kenya."

JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT

"We need to change the current crisis into a new opportunity. We need a new deal for a new world. I sincerely hope that with the leadership of President Obama, the United States of America will join forces with Europe to drive this new deal. For the benefit of our societies, for the benefit of the world."

TARO ASO, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER

"The Japan-U.S. alliance is key to Japanese diplomacy and it is the foundation for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. With President-elect Obama, I will strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance further and work toward resolving global issues such as the world economy, terror and the environment."

KGALEMA MOTLANTHE, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT

"Africa, which today stands proud of your achievements, can only but look forward to a fruitful working relationship with you both at a bilateral and multilateral levels in our endeavour to create a better world for all who live in it."

STEPHEN HARPER, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER

"I look forward to meeting with the President-elect so that we can continue to strengthen the special bond that exists between Canada and the United States. Ministers in our government look forward to building a strong working relationship with their counterparts in a new Obama cabinet."

KEVIN RUDD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER

"Senator Obama's message of hope is not just for America's future, it is also a message of hope for the world as well. A world which is now in many respects fearful for its future."

HELEN CLARK, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER

"Senator Obama will be taking office at a critical juncture. There are many pressing challenges facing the international community, including the global financial crisis and global warming. We look forward to working closely with President-elect Obama and his team to address these challenges."

SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO, INDONESIAN PRESIDENT

Indonesia especially hopes that the U.S., under new leadership, will stand in the front and take real action to overcome the global financial crisis, especially since the crisis was triggered by the financial conditions in the U.S."

GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT

"We welcome his triumph in the same vein that we place the integrity of the US electoral process and the choices made by the American people in high regard. We likewise note the making of history with the election of Senator Obama as the first African-American president of the United States."

ALI AGHAMOHAMMADI, CLOSE AIDE TO IRAN'S MOST POWEFUL FIGURE

AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI

"The president-elect has promised changes in policies. There is a capacity for the improvement of ties between America and Iran if Obama pursues his campaign promises, including not confronting other countries as Bush did in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also concentrating on America's state matters and removing the American people's concerns."

SAEB EREKAT, AIDE TO PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS

"We hope the president-elect in the United States will stay the course and would continue the U.S. engagement in the peace process without delay. We hope the two-state vision would be transferred from a vision to a realistic track immediately."

SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL BLUE HOUSE

"We believe the election of Obama is due to the American people's support for his message of new change and hope. President Lee Myung-bak has made change and reform an important policy priority since his own election and the two leaders share their philosophy in this regard."

PAKISTANI EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON

"President (Asif Ali) Zardari expressed the hope that Pakistan-U.S. relations will be enhanced under the new American leadership that received a popular mandate in Tuesday's poll."

(For more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http:/blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)

Labels: daily, obama, polis, politics

| posted by Unknown @ 11/04/2008 11:39:00 PM

Expediency Incorporated

A colleague wrote:
There is only one political party operating in Washington: the War & Money Party. While it has different wings and cliques, it still only looks out for the wealthy. The people from whom they select are beholden to the tried-and-true methods of getting things done--bombing and invasion as foreign policy; bailing out the rich first, in times of crisis (see Bank Crisis; Katrina; et al).

And you believe that one of their select is going to provide "hope," and "change?" Or, that the "Maverick" is going to "reform" the same criminal practices he abetted?

If so: I have a Bridge to Nowhere, to sell you--cheap (oh, but wait...I forgot: we own that, already)!

In the meantime (while you're fishing in your change-jar to buy that bridge): consider this...

I responded:
You wrote that I "believe that one of their select is going to provide 'hope' and 'change' [and] 'reform' the same criminal practices he abetted". Clearly you misunderstand me. I don't disagree with you about the D.C. branch of global, oligarchical monopoly with two faces. I think we only disagree on how to respond. I refrained from voting for the War and Money Party and voted Green across the board in 2000 and 2004. I will do so again.

Today, I believe Obama actually possesses altruistic principles and an active conscience, is capable of brokering the kind of change that is needed, and will do his best (inadequate as that will be) to move the system in a direction more resembling representative democracy than will McBush. The capacity and the attempt are what is required, unless you can literally predict the future. The rest of the naivete you project on me is ill considered and premature, as we've had no chance to really discuss any of this. I will vote for Obama because of the reasons listed above, which I require in a statesman regardless of affiliation, and because he can win and prevent the literal continuation of identical policies generated by the GOP, not because I believe his policies will suddenly reflect the Green Party platform. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Kerry, because he lacked (as far as I can tell from this distance) even a few of the qualities that might create a ray of "from the inside" hope. That weakness on my part was a definitive vote for the agenda we know by the shorthand "Bush" and I'll not repeat that, come Hell or high water.

Voting is largely a personal exercise symbolizing the hope that principles proper to public service remain essential and must re-enter the political sphere. Our contemporary system is such that actual "popular" votes have little to no effect on the "election" of any regime in the United States. But voting is still is a necessary symbolic action and that is another discussion. Some day, perhaps soon, there will once again be a democratic republic on these shores. Feel moved to run for office?

Labels: obama, politics

| posted by Unknown @ 10/16/2008 04:09:00 PM

Obama

The themes that will continue until the election is done

An acquaintance say my Facebook profile and asked "to know 3 real qualifications Obama has that qualifies him (above the local lawnman) to become President of the US - the highest position in the world. Just 3 things he has done...specifically done."

I responded:

The most difficult part of responding to your question is picking just three things. I'll choose the three which are indisputable and more than qualify him, especially in comparison to his opposition, to be the Chief Executive Facilitator of the most powerful nation in the world.

#1 he has built, funded, and remained engaged with community-based coalitions in which participants report they got a significant portion of what they needed. This is what I'm paying for when I religiously send in my taxes.

#2 he has had no choice but to become expert at operating diplomatically from a position of sympathy in the presence of opposition. As it is with other minority leaders of my acquaintance, this may be related to weathering comparisons to "the local lawnman" when you might more accurately have written "above the local graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School" but I am not qualified to speak to the origins of his skill in this area or to your background in diversity work.

#3 He says he will do what I want a president to do. What his opponents say they will do is the opposite of what I want a president to do. Even though this makes the choice between the two an obvious one it is not enough to get my vote because politicians, by design of our system, must tell you what they think you want to hear. Therefore I ignore them, in large part, beyond paying attention when a speech writer constructs a particularly satisfying bit of metaphor or compelling prose. Rather than listen to what they say I research their record and the people they owe. Overlooking a relatively small percentage of pork and wheeling and dealing I want more of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Lugar–Obama work expanding the Nunn–Lugar "cooperative threat reduction" approach regarding conventional weapons, and particularly the Coburn–Obama Transparency Act, as I'm very much looking forward to the long life of www.USAspending.gov. He regularly works with Democrats, Republicans, and independents and toward things like the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008 and the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (signed into law in September 2007). He also introduced S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, and introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007. I want more of the same where he is concerned and not eight more years of deception and blatant "you couldn't stop me if you tried" criminality.

OK. I wasn't able to pick just three.

He responded:

"I asked for 3 REAL qualifications in Obama's life that qualify him for the most important job in the world. You gave me two things that Red Cross volunteers do for free here in Louisiana...but Obama did not do those things for free...he made a whopping $13,000 a year. The other thing you said was "He (Obama) says he will do what I want a president to do" and this is again the problem...he SAYS a lot but is an empty suit that changes his mind depending on the audience...not to mention he does not have a clus about Iran (a small country with no threat) or Russia (just let all sides hug and sit down and talk with the UN) or Packistan who he suggested we invade."

I closed:
With apologies, I am up to my ears in a new Executive Director position and need to withdraw from this exchange because it does not feel potentially fruitful. Red Cross volunteers at the organizational level Obama occupied often get paid ridiculously high salaries (remember the investigations?) and still don't get the specific, grounded results Obama did. But you'd know that if this exchange were actually dealing with the historical record. Every candidate ever to hop off the campaign truck gears her message to her audience, and every leader reserves the right to shift position when a change in circumstances dictates a change in strategy, with one recent and notable exception that is costing us lives and resources at an unprecedented rate. McCain does it. Obama does it. Regan did it. Likewise (fill in the blank). It is familiar, disingenuous demagoguery for a competitor to call his rival "an empty suit" because he changes his mind, which leads me to recognize some of the main anti-Obama points generated by the RNC campaign machine and not by the historical record. He never said Iran is a small country posing no threat, that Russia will hug and sit down with the UN, or that Pakistan requires an invasion. Good grief. Someday let's at least try to have a discussion based on what the candidates actually do/say and not what the campaign headquarters tells us to think.

-------

The Palin Choice

Posted Thursday, September 04 2008 @ 07:02 AM PDT

George Lakoff argues that the Republican choice of Palin makes total sense if you truly understand the strategy of the Republicans in this election.

The Palin Choice
The Reality of the Political Mind
by George Lakoff

This election matters because of realities-the realities of global warming, the economy, the Middle East, nuclear proliferation, civil liberties, species extinction, poverty here and around the world, and on and on. Such realities are what make this election so very crucial, and how to deal with them is the substance of the Democratic platform .

Election campaigns matter because who gets elected can change reality. But election campaigns are primarily about the realities of voters' minds, which depend on how the candidates and the external realities are cognitively framed. They can be framed honestly or deceptively, effectively or clumsily. And they are always framed from the perspective of a worldview.

The Obama campaign has learned this. The Republicans have long known it, and the choice of Sarah Palin as their Vice-Presidential candidate reflects their expert understanding of the political mind and political marketing. Democrats who simply belittle the Palin choice are courting disaster. It must be t aken with the utmost seriousness.

The Democratic responses so far reflect external realities: she is inexperienced, knowing little or nothing about foreign policy or national issues; she is really an anti-feminist, wanting the government to enter women's lives to block abortion, but not wanting the government to guarantee equal pay for equal work, or provide adequate child health coverage, or child care, or early childhood education; she shills for the oil and gas industry on drilling; she denies the scientific truths of global warming and evolution; she misuses her political authority; she opposes sex education and her daughter is pregnant; and, rather than being a maverick, she is on the whole a radical right-wing ideologue.

All true, so far as we can tell.

But such truths may nonetheless be largely irrelevant to this campaign. That is the lesson Democrats must learn. They must learn the reality of the political mind.

The Obama campaign has done this very well so far. The convention events and speeches were orchestrated both to cast light on external realities, traditional political themes, and to focus on values at once classically American and progressive: empathy, responsibility both for oneself and others, and aspiration to make things better both for oneself and the world. Obama did all this masterfully in his nomination speech, while replying to, and undercutting, the main Republican attacks.

But the Palin nomination changes the game. The initial response has been to try to keep the focus on external realities, the "issues," and differences on the issues. But the Palin nomination is not basically about external realities and what Democrats call "issues," but about the symbolic mechanisms of the political mind-the worldviews, frames, metaphors, cultural narratives, and stereotypes. The Republicans can't win on realities. Her job is to speak the language of conservatism, activate the conservative view of the world, and use the advantages that conservatives have in dominating political discourse.

Our national political dialogue is fundamentally metaphorical, with family values at the center of our discourse. There is a reason why Obama and Biden spoke so much about the family, the nurturant family, with caring fathers and the family values that Obama put front and center in his Father's day speech: empathy, responsibility and aspiration. Obama's reference in the nomination speech to "The American Family" was hardly accidental, nor were the references to the Obama and Biden families as living and fulfilling the American Dream. Real nurturance requires strength and toughness, which Obama displayed in body language and voice in his responses to McCain. The strength of the Obama campaign has been the seamless marriage of reality and symbolic thought.

The Republican strength has been mostly symbolic. The McCain campaign is well aware of how Reagan and W won-running on character: values, communicatio n, (apparent) authenticity, trust, and identity - not issues and policies. That is how campaigns work, and symbolism is central.

Conservative family values are strict and apply via metaphorical thought to the nation: good vs. evil, authority, the use of force, toughness and discipline, individual (versus social) responsibility, and tough love. Hence, social programs are immoral because they violate discipline and individual responsibility. Guns and the military show force and discipline. Man is above nature; hence no serious environmentalism. The market is the ultimate financial authority, requiring market discipline. In foreign policy, strength is use of the force. In fundamentalist religion, the Bible is the ultimate authority; hence no gay marriage. Such values are at the heart of radical conservatism. This is how John McCain was raised and how he plans to govern. And it is what he shares with Sarah Palin.

Palin is the mom in the strict father family, upholding conservative values. Palin is tough: she shoots, skins, and eats caribou. She is disciplined: raising five kids with a major career. She lives her values: she has a Downs-syndrome baby that she refused to abort. She has the image of the ideal conservative mom: pretty, perky, feminine, Bible-toting, and fitting into the ideal conservative family. And she fits the stereotype of America as small-town America. It is Reagan's morning-in-America image. Where Obama thought of capturing the West, she is running for Sweetheart of the West.

And Palin, a member of Feminists For Life, is at the heart of the conservative feminist movement, which Ronee Schreiber has written about in her recent book, Righting Feminism. It is a powerful and growing movement that Democrats have barely paid attention to.
At the same time, Palin is masterful at the Republican game of taking the Democrats' language and reframing it-putting conservative frames to progressive words: Reform, prosperity, peace. She is also masterful at using the progressive narratives: she's from the working class, working her way up from hockey mom and the PTA to Mayor, Governor, and VP candidate. Her husband is a union member. She can say to the conservative populists that she is one of them-all the things that Obama and Biden have been saying. Bottom-up, not top-down.

Yes, the McCain-Palin ticket is weak on the major realities. But it is strong on the symbolic dimension of politics that Republicans are so good at marketing. Just arguing the realities, the issues, the hard truths should be enough in times this bad, but the political mind and its response to symbolism cannot be ignored. The initial Democratic response to Palin - the response based on realities alone - indicates that many Democrats have not learned the lessons of the Reagan and Bush years.

They have not learned the nature of conservative populism. A great many working-class folks are what I call "bi-conceptual," that is, they are split between conservative and progressive modes of thought. Conservative on patriotism and certain social and family issues, which they have been led to see as "moral", progressive in loving the land, living in communities of care, and practical kitchen table issues like mortgages, health care, wages, retirement, and so on.
Conservative theorists won them over in two ways: Inventing and promulgating the idea of "liberal elite" and focusing campaigns on social and family issues. They have been doing this for many years and have changed a lot of brains through repetition. Palin will appeal strongly to conservative populists, attacking Obama and Biden as pointy-headed, tax-and-spend, latte liberals. The tactic is to divert attention from difficult realities to powerful symbolism.

What Democrats have shied away from is a frontal attack on radical conservatism itself as an un-American and harmful ideology. I think Obama is right when he says that America is based on people caring about each other and working together for a better future-empathy, responsibility (both personal and social), and aspiration. These lead to a concept of government based on protection (environmental, consumer, worker, health care, and retirement protection) and empowerment (through infrastructure, public education, the banking system, the stock market, and the courts). Nobody can achieve the American Dream or live an American lifestyle without protection and empowerment by the government.20The alternative, as Obama said in his nomination speech, is being on your own, with no one caring for anybody else, with force as a first resort in foreign affairs, with threatened civil liberties and a right-wing government making your most important decisions for you. That is not what American democracy has ever been about.

What is at stake in this election are our ideals and our view of the future, as well as current realities. The Palin choice brings both front and center. Democrats, being Democrats, will mostly talk about the realities nonstop without paying attention to the dimensions of values and symbolism. Democrats, in addition, need to call an extremist an extremist: to shine a light on the shared anti-democratic ideology of McCain and Palin, the same ideology shared by Bush and Cheney. They share values antithetical to our democracy. That needs to be said loud and clear, if not by the Obama campaign itself, then by the rest of us who share democratic American values.

Our job is to bring external realities together with the reality of the political mind. Don't ignore the cognitive dimension. It is through cultural narratives, metaphors, and frames that we understand and express our ideals.

George Lakoff is the author of The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 20th Century Politics With an 18th Century Brain

also http://www.chopra.com/wordsfromdeepak

Obama and the Palin Effect

by Deepak Chopra

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin’s pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision

Look at what she stands for:

Small town values — a nostaligic return to simpler times disguises a denial of America’s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
Ignorance of world affairs — a repudiation of the need to repair America’s image abroad.
Family values — a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don’t need to be needed.
Rigid stands on guns and abortion — a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
Patriotism — the usual fallback in a failed war.
”Reform” — an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn’t fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of “I’m all right, Jack,” and “Why change? Everything’s OK as it is.” The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness

Obama’s call for higher ideals in politics can’t be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow — we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

Labels: election, obama, palin, politics

| posted by Unknown @ 9/08/2008 09:32:00 AM

Not my writing but largely expressive of my decisions about Obama

Two Countries, by Sandy Cressman

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing to express my sad realization that the America where I was raised and educated is no more. I have watched the Republican convention for the first time. We are two countries.

I grew up believing that the United States came about as a place where religious freedom was of paramount importance, leading to separating church and state. I grew up believing that the United States was founded as a place where one is free to speak their mind and read the books of their choice. In the America I knew, patriotism meant pride in these principals, and in being a good citizen of the world. In the country I aspired to, Americans respected the environment and wildlife. In the country I aspired to, grass roots community organization and service was respected and values. In my America, we sought a peaceful world where cultural differences are respected and valued. In my America, we valued compassion, taking care of those who are born with less privilege, and where those who have much help those that have less through compassionate social programs.

This week I learned clearly of the the other America. I watched the celebration of candidates and a political culture which suggests censorship in libraries....which brings religion into politics and whose support of "faith based" initiatives as a substitute for compassionate social programs, dangerously blurring the line between government and church.

I saw a group of people chanting "USA, USA", as if our world is a football game and they were rooting for the dominant team....a group of people who confuse patriotism with nationalism, who talk of our "enemies" and of "winning". It seems that this group of people are not satisfied with the goal of the US being a good world citizen, but insist that we be a dominant bully.

I saw a group of people speak so cavalierly of drilling offshore and in Alaska, with little regard for the environmental impact. I heard them chant "drill, baby drill", as if the environment is a game. But this shouldn't have surprised me--after all, John McCain joked about bombing Iran and putting both Iranians and our soldiers once again in harm's way...singing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran....

This mania for raping our coastlines to drill for oil "so that we won't have to get oil from our enemies"(said Sarah Palin) clouds the fact that the republican cooperation with oil companies killed a California mandate in the 1990's that produced very dependable electric cars-- George Bush senior moved into the White House and promptly removed the solar panels that Jimmy Carter had installed on the roof, no doubt in deference to his oil investment contacts. If you want to verify this, rent the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car". You will be horrified.

I saw the other America celebrate a candidate who wants to make sure that she preserves her right to shoot wolves for sport. Do we want to leave a beautiful country and wildlife for our descendants, or is having fun with guns more important?

I saw a candidate deride and disrespect community organizers, grass roots workers for change and improvement, all the while championing "service".

I heard Huckabee object to Obama "vacationing" Europe--claiming he brought home dangerous European ideas. Family and friends, as you know, I work in Europe several times a year. My colleagues there are in disbelief that my children do NOT have free university education as theirs do; they cannot believe it when I tell them it will cost Natalie $25,000 to $40,000 A YEAR for her university education. They cannot believe that I will have to choose between preparing for retirement or paying for her education....or starting her adult life off deeply in debt. My European colleagues cannot believe that my family pays more than $7,000 per year just for health insurance, not to mention doctor's visits and prescriptions. Some of you may have an easier time with paying for education and health care than our family. But remember, you know us, we are self employed and we work our fannies off.

Yet, this other America I observed this year thinks that government providing university education and health care for all are dangerous ideas....and that we would actually have to fund these things by making sure the wealthiest Americans pay their share of taxes seems scandalous to them.

I heard Rudy Giuliani deride Barack Obama for failing to call terrorism "Islamic Terrorism". Guiliani mused that maybe Obama felt this term was not politically correct. Well, I have news for you, Giuliani, it is an offensive term and not all terrorists are Islamic. I wonder how Rudy would feel if we called all organized crime "Italian Organized Crime"....

The other America I observed this week rejects choice for women, and even suggests that abstinence-only education is the best way of dealing with teenage sex education. Ok, we have seen that abstinence-only doesn't work; but as far as choice goes, and the results of the failed idea of abstinence only education, this other America wants to cuts government programs like those that would assist the teenage mothers and their children, because, as one Republican representative stated "Government is not a philanthropic institution".

I don't want to sink into despair about this realization that we are two Americas....so after this next work trip I must take next week, you can be sure that I will be keeping up the debate and taking action. If you agree with my original vision of America, I beg you to not sit complacent. If you are in California, get on the phone or on the plane in October, talk to voters in Swing States about preserving the compassionate America that we grew up to believe in. If you are in another state, talk to people, work on getting them to vote for the Compassionate America, which has its best shot at existing under Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

So, friends and family members, I know I have never talked politics with some of you.

This is not about politics, this is about preserving the America of the founding Fathers.

With Sincere love for our country but also love for our world,

Sandy Cressman

back to Brandon...
In order to forward the message I accept the metaphor of division, "Two Countries". Beyond its use as a rhetorical device, believing this tension is a literal division is an essential precursor to dividing up the country (red and blue) and letting partisan politicians off the hook for serving Everybody involved. We are not two countries. We are always millions of individuals, and hundreds of thousands of communities, and fifty abstracted states, and innumerable ethnicities, and so much more. Both the "One Nation Under God" and the "Two Countries" tropes structurally support the avoidance of true public service which presupposes a level of complexity that makes reduction to special interest governance equivalent to treason and mandates the ongoing need for cultivating understanding.

Labels: obama, politics, repro, USA

| posted by Unknown @ 9/07/2008 10:54:00 AM