This is the second part of a four-part response to cyberfriend Doug Hagler; I’m putting up the first three all together, posting them in reverse chronological order so they’ll be in the right order going down the page. In his collection of (mostly) positive statements about George W. Bush—for which I give him credit despite the ridiculous hyperbole of describing Bush 43 as “perhaps the worst presidency in American history”; sorry, Doug, James Buchanan and Warren G. Harding say hello—he made the following statement:
I imagine praising Obama is at least as painful for Rob as the following was for me.
The truth is, it’s nothing of the sort. I like praising Barack Obama, for a couple reasons. One, I’d always rather believe the best of people, if they give me a chance; two, my optimistic side delights in the opportunity to tell my pessimistic side that things are better than I think they are; and three, as great a disappointment as he’s been to me, I can’t help liking the guy and wanting to be able to respect him and think well of him. And for that matter, four, he’s my president, too, and the more that can be said well of him, the better for the country. So, herewith and forthwith:
- He’s a loving, devoted husband.
- He’s a loving, devoted father. Those are two separate things, but they go together; and lest anyone try to dismiss them, I think they’re profoundly, profoundly important. My biggest problem with Bill Clinton was that he showed himself repeatedly to be a man who would betray his nearest and dearest and his most important vows for the sake of the needs and desires of the moment; that, in my book, called into question his right to be his country’s greatest servant. I cannot believe we will ever have that question about Barack Obama.
- He had the guts to tell the Left that we need to make room for religious faith in our political conversation. That was the point when I really began to have high hopes for him; it was a critically important message that still needs to be reiterated.
- He prevented the character assassination of Cambridge Police Sgt. Jim Crowley. He may well have had ulterior motives involved in that, but regardless, that bespoke a personal nobility that I appreciate.
- He authorized the use of force against the Somali pirates, which was the right and necessary thing to do. (Side note: Doug tries to only give me half credit for this, because in that post I also pointed out something with which I disagreed with. So, what’s the deal, Doug—only uncritical cheerleading counts? A trifle inconsistent, aren’t we?)
- He clearly wants to build support for America in the Muslim world. I disagree with a lot of his assumptions in this and the way he’s going about it, but even so, the goal is an important one. It would be too easy for American foreign policy to lapse into a simplistic “Muslim = enemy” equation—so far, we haven’t had any leaders who wanted to go that way, and here’s hoping that doesn’t change.
- He’s not afraid to dream big. If he were, he wouldn’t be in the White House.
- He would make a wonderful dinner guest. Or so, at least, is the sense I get. Don’t dismiss this—it’s a more important statement than you probably think.
- He has overcome a great deal. Abandoned by his father at a very young age, dragged off to Indonesia when his mother remarried a man from whom she would also end up divorced, then shipped back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents . . . I’ve said more than once that his record of real accomplishments is paper-thin, but the truth is, given his personal history and the damage divorce does to children, it’s nothing short of amazing that he is where he is.
- He appears to have come through the Chicago machine without becoming personally corrupt. I’ve faulted him in the past for being a go-along-to-get-along politician, a creation of the machine, and someone who wanted reformist credentials without actually confronting the machine that made him; but whatever my concerns about him as a politician, though I think he stained himself somewhat with Tony Rezko on the house deal, it seems clear that he managed to stay out of the corruption in Chicago. After all, you can bet that if Rod Blagojevich had anything on Barack Obama that qualified as dirt, he would have used it. This might sound like faint praise, but it’s really not; when all is said and done, President Obama may well be the only major politician to come out of Illinois during his time there of whom that can be said.
Again, well done. I appreciate this as a counterbalance, and I'm glad that you have optimism to call upon. I've described my pessimism as "primordial" just tonight, and it is indeed.
If you can get free of the widespread assumption (on both sides of the fence) that those who disagree with you must do so out of malignant motives–which is to say, that they must really share your assumptions, presuppositions, and prejudices, but do things you think are wrong anyway, out of baser reasons–it's really not that hard to see that the demonization of them is simply not merited, and that there's a lot to admire about many of them. Some of them, alas, are crooks, or otherwise morally deficient–we're working on purging those folks on the Right these days–and some, though straight enough, don't seem to have much to recommend them (I'd put Harry Reid in that category, personally), but most of them are more admirable than partisanship would make you think. Even someone like Nancy Pelosi, for whom I have zero use as a politician–just off the top of my head, I can think of her daughter Alexandra, who's a documentary filmmmaker who has done some good work; clearly the Pelosis have done at least a few things right in their family life.
I will say this, too: if you want to have any kind of moral credibility, you really need to drop the "monster" language and work to rehumanize your political opponents. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, and he meant it; the gospel for you means, "Love Dick Cheney." I learned that one a long time ago, the hard way.
My husband adds that President Obama is a beer drinker, and not just a "wine weenie." However, I must add that my husband is partisan, being a home brewer in the past.
I too, believe him to be a good family man. If he turned out to be another John Edwards or (insert unfaithful politician of either party here) — I would be very crushed. It truly looks to me like he potects his daughters as well (thankfully they have been treated well — we actually have President and Secretary Clinton to thank for starting that precedent after Chelsea was so brutally referred to as ugly on national TV).
I agree. And it's worth noting that even the Bush twins didn't get it as bad as Chelsea Clinton did, and that despite the fact that they did more to make themselves vulnerable. Given the backlash at Letterman's comments about Sarah Palin's daughter, I think maybe we can say there's actually an area in which our political culture is improving, at least a little. (I certainly hope so.)
LOL, yeah I live down the street from where they got busted for the false ID's (excellent Mexican food btw). The Bush daughters were fortunate enough to not be in the awkward young teen years when their father took office.
I remember the backlash after the Clinton thing, and how outraged people were (from all over the spectrum) over the comments and her parents wisely made sure the point drove home, that it was not acceptable and would not be tolerated.
I recently read that Spain does not allow any photographs of the children of public officials at all — perhaps a bit extreme, but in my book these kids need to be off the table. Given the media adoration of President Obama, I should imagine that he must be taking an active role in keeping them out of the spotlight, otherwise we would have their cherubic little faces plastered everywhere.
Because I try to think outside the box, I believe I know why people dont like Barack Obama regardless of your political party or position. I truly believe people don't like him because he is African-American (PERIOD). We leave in the 21st and not many centuries ago. I think this type of mentality is poisining this country and will continue to bring us down. In comparison with the last president, Obama is an Einstein in all aspects. In additon, when we choose a movie actor as our president, what can you expect as a country…it makes all of us look very bad. I bet other countries are just laughing at us. "Americans this…Americans that".