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Billmon: Obama at the Plate
Billmon:
What the supposed cynics like to call "all that Kumbaya shit" (but which the real cynics, like yours truly, suspect is a cooly executed strategem to grab the upper partisan hand by monopolizing the bipartisan label) was almost wholly lacking. Gone missing was the by-now customary reference to states that are neither red nor blue, but united. Previous promises to be the president even of those who did not vote for him were not repeated.
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At this point, though, the message is not clear. I thought I heard what I thought I heard; the talking heads think they heard something rather different — a moralist scolding Washington for its wicked ways, rather than pragmatist signaling his intention to lower the boom on any adversary who block his path too long or too unreasonably.
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If our new president really aspires to fix a broken economy, provide national health care, find alternative energy sources, restore the rule of law, withdraw from Iraq, win in Afghanistan (we could argue about that last one, but these are his priorities, not mine) and otherwise remake America — or at least get a start on the process during his first term — at some point soon he'll need to become a lot more explicit about what he is willing to do to his fellow politicians, as well as with them, to make it happen.
Obama at the Plate
Obama’s political and spiritual heritage is extremely traditional. Outdated. Of course, like Bush he is an agnostic, all politicians are non-believers.
The ppl he has nominated, all are political hacks and over 50….two exceptions, the Economy woman is only 49..
First, his heritage is Alinsky wiki, I didn’t read the entry, just to point somewhere.
Further back Dewey, wiki
and the collection of ppl connected to him, pragmatist philosophers, constructionists in modern parlance and specifically American, as a new, exceptional, etc. scene. (Hillary C has a similar intellectual background. Alinsky offered her a job but she refused it.)
Afaik, the school the sweet Obama daughters will attend was founded by Dewey, but I may be mistaken. That is a middle class democrat thing!
Politically, rather ‘radical’, (ppl can take their own destiny in hand, contribute and benefit, etc. bit of hark-backs even to Jefferson) education and journalism top preoccupations…disliked or hated by the Right, natch.
The second strand, civic rights and black whatever socio-cultural guff, shadowy appeals to black leader figures (M.L. King for ex) and history (civic rights, votes, etc.) , and rigorous attendance at black church – Pastor Wright – now there is an odd, wily character – repudiated quickly when it became inconvenient.
This strand was always part of the Chicago scene (social work! go for it!) and no doubt obligatory for Obama and much on wife Michelle’s mind…
To the point: how are abstract, narrow, dated basically to the late 1800s, ‘college syllabus’ theoretical schemes, to deal with two ongoing wars, bleeding military expenditure, an economic crisis, meaning perhaps the collapse of the whole system in 2009/10, climate change, peak oil, and the ME ready to blow up?
Montessori, Keynes, Dewey, King, (it is a mix..) and many more dead figures could be ghosted up, valiant and worthwhile contributors, sure…but for today?
It all reeks of middle class top mark college graduates, minorities so given slack, tolerated because of convention, longing to belong to the upper strata and tossing CVs and arcane savvy about….More than a bit pathetic.
–one facet only
Posted by: Tangerine | Jan 21 2009 20:09 utc | 13
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