Can Obama Pull Off a Historic Presidential Double Play?
''On or about December 1910," Virginia Woolf wrote, "human character changed.'' We can be much more specific: "On November 4, 2008, just after 11 pm Eastern, America changed" (human character remains rather intransigent).
The change was driven by two things: our country's remarkable capacity for regeneration, and Barack Obama's remarkable ability to tap into the better angels of our nature.
You know something extraordinary is happening when even Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and Joe Lieberman trip over themselves -- and their hastily discarded invective -- to say nice things about Obama and the "tremendous signal" sent by his election.
Sure, it's easy to see their encomiums as purely tactical attempts not to be on the wrong side of history, but they are more than that. They also demonstrate how certain moments and certain individuals are able to bring the best out in people -- even people who have shown us some of the worst aspects of human character. Because, hard though it may be to accept, the best and the worst reside in each of us, side-by-side.
As Alexander Solzhenitsyn put it: "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart." And the greatest leaders are those who inspire us to reside on the good side of Solzhenitsyn's line.
Obama does more. As David Brooks wrote recently, Obama's fractured childhood "is supposed to produce a politician with gaping personal needs and hidden wounds. But over the past two years, Obama has never shown evidence of that."
Here is someone whose childhood could have easily led to a life in shambles. But Obama has somehow -- and without, as far as we know, thousands of hours of therapy --succeeded in not letting circumstances dictate his life and reactions.
During the campaign, Obama was an object lesson in equanimity. Insinuate he's Muslim or sympathizes with terrorists, and he brushes off the mud. Hammer him with trumped up charges -- "sexist," "socialist," un-American" -- and he rolls with the punches. He simply doesn't let it in. He demonstrates that we have the ability to master whether we allow setbacks and attacks to throw us off course.
A lot has been written about Obama's calm in the face of adversity over the course of the last 21 months. Less noted has been how he displays that same centeredness in the face of triumph.
On Tuesday night, he could have waxed transcendent, he could have wrung every last tear and every last cheer out of the adoring crowd at Grant Park. But he chose not to. Instead, his speech gracefully touched the clouds a few times then soberly came back to earth, focused, as always with Obama, on moving forward.
To their great credit, the American people have responded to Obama's example by remaining remarkably focused as well. Despite the seemingly endless parade of meaningless sideshows trotted out during both the primaries and the general campaign, the public refused to be distracted. These kinds of tactics had worked well in 2004 -- but not in 2008. Obama's focus, his sense of purpose cleared a path through the carnival of clownish attacks and chamber of horror scares. And voters followed.
After eight years in which it has felt like the very foundation of our country was under assault, it is a testament to our democracy's inherent capacity for regeneration -- our ability to course-correct -- that Americans responded the way they did to a campaign so premised on an appeal to our greater selves.
A country can change only to the extent that the individuals within it change (and some changes come slower than others, as evidenced by Prop 8 and the other gay marriage bans that passed on Tuesday).
So it's back to Solzhenitsyn: "If you wanted to change the world, who should you begin with: yourself or others?"
Our president-elect is obsessed with Lincoln, who changed the country both by changing government policy and by using the bully pulpit to help us change ourselves. And our president-elect is endlessly being compared to FDR, who gave us both the New Deal and one of the most famous life lessons in history: "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."
Now it's Obama's turn to pull off this rare presidential double play.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
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On Monday's Rachael Maddow Show I would like you and some experts discuss the potential benefits to any financially unhealthy industry (the auto industry in particular) of a single payer universal healthcare program to take the burden off the companies so that they can compete on an even footing internationally. While you are on the subject how would a Social Security benefits brought up to date as far as real world cost of living indexing have the same positive affect on industries' bottom line competitiveness?
Whats this (not you) Teamster note? 2.1 million miles still moving on
Turning wheel can defy gravity .
It is this waiting for a role call vote that stumps me .
push the button like your remote .
UK ," Roberts Rules speak" then vote.
Real Freinds are wealth !
Have Max Blumenthal on as a guest to discuss his articles in Salon about the AIP and the man behind Prop 8.
OR
IF the interest rates loaned from bank to bank have fallen why haven't mortgage interest rates? Wouldn't that help in steming the housing crisis?
The AIP would be interesting, even though it touches Sarah what's her name? Also given the protests after Prop 8 what would happen if they reversed Roe v Wade??
Ms. Huffington, When you host the Maddow show I would like for you to pose the question why three of our states can't get the last election's votes counted in a timely manner.
Using the presidential oath as a guide, you could talk about the decisions Obama needs to make to counter Bush's violation of the various clauses of the Constitution
I would enjoy your interviewing Bev Harris of Black Box Voting and Greg Palast.
Discussions with them always add excitement and inspire an interesting show.
Thanks.
WOW - Bev Harris of Black Box Voting. What a great idea!
Isn't it great that I can go to a CVS in Gainesville, FL and they can instantaneously retrieve records of medications that were previously dispensed to me in my home town of Nyack, NY years before? Or get cash from a Citibank ATM in Nairobi, Kenya?
Before the 2000 Gore/Bush debacle, didn't we all think that our voting mechanisms were just as sophisticated? But yet we allow private corporations - like Diebold - who wreak of impropriety and supply politicians with buckets full of money, to create and monitor the machines with which we vote? Case in point: Kerry v. Bush, OH, 2004.
In the meantime, today, 11/15/2008, they're still counting votes in the "swing state" of MO.Could you imagine if this year's election hinged on those results?
Arianna, please lend your visibility and intelligence to the creation and implementation of a tamper-proof, country-wide voting system that ensures the protection of every vote.
Thanks for your consideration.
Happy to see you hosting but would like to here about
Security issues for Obama and threats. It is time for McCain, Palin, O'Reilly, Hannity and the rest to apologize and call for us to unite so as to lessen the hate in this country and harm to Obama and family.
Why can't conservatives follow the separation between church and state. If they want a religious party then start one up and that way they and everyone will know where they are coming from.
I also agree that we need to stop the promotion of Palin. Enough is enough! As long as we continue to fuel the fire it will burn.
I would like someone to ask why we never hear about the effect of single payer health insurance as it effects workers comp. Surely these two could be rolled together, as they are both mostly medical situations, and we could save employers huge amounts on the cost of hiring, in some industries as much as $100 per $100 of payroll. And most of this cost is absorbed by administration and fraud.
John Harwood.
See Dr. Robert Aziz's Profile
Rachel Maddow Show
The change by which America and democratic culture has been gripped in this post-911 era did not have its origins in one man. However there can be no doubt that by way of the entwining of a personal and collective destiny, by way of the personal struggle, courage and leadership of one particular individual, the unique potential that existed in this post-911 era for the collective consciousness of a culture to be propelled into an altogether different orbit was realized. Barack Obama was not the author of that change; he was its instrument. He was not its lone creator; he was its co-creator. By way of his intimations of its direction, he was its mentor in the truest sense of that word—Barack Obama opened the space for that which would otherwise not happen, regardless of its potential, to happen.
Much as follows the miracle of birth itself, America and democratic culture have now entered an altogether new and different stage of life, the developmental stage, which is to say, the slow hard process of incarnating life potential within the limitations of time and space bound reality. So my question for your guest hosting of the Rachel Maddow Show would be as follows: How can we ensure by way of our support of President-elect Obama that that potential—the true and fundamental dynamics of the change of which Barack Obama has spoken—will be consciously understood, genuinely held and nurtured in the coming years?
Arianna:
When asked by Congress, various CEO's stated that none of the Bailout money was going toward yearly Bonuses. That is rediculous- without the Bailout money there Banks would not be able to give any Bonuses. Remember, these Bonuses are in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. The Banks should not be allowed to pay ANY Bonus. What happened to the NO BLANK Check policy?
Please bring this to light.
Anthony Palazzo
The question of optimism is moot if the election aren't free and fair. We nedd a better system and to get ride of those electronic hackable voting machines.
Try NOT mentioning Sarah Palin
Yes! Unless she happens to say something intelligent by accident, please do not mention her name...this country is on Palin overload. Enough of the pretend interest in hopes of getting another "she's so stupid story," like Couric got. Quit dumbing down America!
Here's a question, Arianna. How are the Republicans going to undo the disinformation they spread about Barack Obama during the campaign so that we can function as a united country? Both John McCain and Sarah Palin pounded themes that Barack Obama:
1) ...associates with domestic terrorists.
2) ...has Marxist ideas.
3) ...plans to raise taxes on middle income people.
Others (like that crazy lady at the lady at the McCain rally) have gone so far as to call him an Arab, and one Republican politician just compared him to Hitler. I've even read where some ultra-conservatives think the very fabric of the republic is in jeopardy now that Obama is president-elect. Doesn't the Republican party owe it to us to set the record straight on these campaign lies? Don't they care that some people may act inappropriately or even dangerously based on ideas that are essentially campaign hogwash? Where is the accountability now that the campaign is over? That's what I would like to know.
Steve...the folks that believe these lies are chumps who are making the folks who spread these lies for money (Sean Mannity, Rush, et.al.) rich! Only people with little or no education, or the good sense to NOT watch Faux News believe this crap. Most people don't have the time to keep up with all this nonsense. As far as accountability, the Repubs have been campaigning like this for years and the only accountability that matters is NOT electing them to any position of power. They say government is the problem....good. Let them find employment elsewhere. I wouldn't hire anyone who didn't think they were coming on to an organization worth their time and effort. It would be a bad business decision to do so and it should be a bad political decision for people to keep electing these right-wing loons when they adhere to their "government is the problem" baloney.
Topic for TRMS:Tailgunner Joe Lieberman and his support of rightwing issues.
I revel in your optimism, but the only way we can continue to have the capacity for change is if we have free and fair elections. This bullshit going on with our voting system is the real danger to our Democracy. We need a complete overhaul. Non partisan election officials, one standardized system and for God's sake get ride of those hackable electronic ( republican made )Voting machines!
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