It’s not about politics—it’s about the mood, the undercurrent of hostility and brooding and the degradation of community debate into camps, allegiances, red states-blue states, and even the religious branding of social categories. My Catholic buddy tells me he doesn’t feel good about the country; my Jewish pal thinks we are spinning out of our moral orbit; my colleague the writer believes that we are in a period of self-flagellation, doubt, and self-contempt.
Yesterday, an “unknown politician” (is there such a thing as “unknown” anymore?) handily defeated the supposed political heir to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts. The lady blew it, more or less, by emitting a regrettable sense of entitlement and failing to understand that Massachusetts is an actual commonwealth of complex histories, resentments, regions, and an already overwhelmed state health insurance structure that is no model for anything. She also doesn’t comprehend baseball.
And yet: Many sobering conclusions are being wound and rewound in the media, by the “experts,” and in the minds of so many good citizens who are subliminally configured by the pontificating and punditry. National health care is now doomed, President Obama and the Democrats are limping in the aftermath of this devastating and bitterly ironic defeat in the Kennedy heartland, and the “independents” are sending a Message to Washington.
We are a nation of good traditions, open debates, free elections, progressive tendencies, and a history that constantly reveals self-healing and resiliency.
To be fair, there is a real shift in the national gestalt since a year ago when we anointed Barack Obama a messianic deliverer and it turns out he has to run the country, manage wars, maneuver through a labyrinth of ancient senatorial cabals—all while saving the banks, the automotive industry, Social Security, and keeping us safe from terrorists. And I confess to some nostalgic sorrow in the matter of the Mass.-Kennedy denial, the sense that we are not sensitized to the dire health care needs of our massively trodden less-than-upper classes, and to the yearning for some heroism on the part of the rhetorical leaders in the District of Columbia.
Memories are strange: We pine for a JFK (I know that I do), who was lost to us in 1963. But we forget that Ronald Reagan, now a legendary president, was considered damaged goods in 1982, that the rock star Bill Clinton was impeached by the US House of Representatives in 1998 and survived a trial in the Senate, and that George W. Bush had a 90%+ approval rating in the autumn of 2001.
We citizens are better than any standing government, any current president, and any transient mood. Our problems are real and hard and even dangerous. But we are a nation of good traditions, open debates, free elections, progressive tendencies, and a history that constantly reveals self-healing and resiliency. The fact that our president is disappointing to some appears to be based on his work, not his race—and that’s a noble thing.
We need to turn to each other and remember more, bemoan less. There is work to do.
Image: Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley (Wiki)
Comments
Hi Ben,
I agree - much work to be done. Let's pull together instead of pulling everything apart. Let's be transparent. Let's remember the value of the person, not their political party. No one is perfect - you are correct. I do believe that when a leader sees something going in the wrong direction, or it doesn't work, or other ideas are presented that are worth listening to, that the leader SHOULD take a look at what is happening. We can't just turn our backs, do the same thing, and hope for a change. Isn't that the definition of insanity? Anyway, just want to give you an "Amen" from my point of view. As you said - "Let's get to work!"
Excellent analysis. I agree with all you say, and I sincerely hope Mr. Obama can surmount this. I agree, too, with your nostalgia for JFK. Only time, and the will of the people, will tell. But thank you for this; it reminded me of many things.
There is a great article in The Jan/Feb 2010 Atlantic Monthly by James Fallows that give a tutorial on our history of gloom and doom. Worth reading. Also Mass. already has a nearly universal health insurance and probably not looking for big brother to swoop in when little brother feels like it is well in control.
Just keep writing, Rabbi Ben. Thank you/
Hello again,
What can I say about the less than thrilling about face the SP's (Social Progressives) have suddenly experienced?
They've come to the realization that lying to the American public about being 'Transparent', while doing just the opposite doesn't work. They've realized that the Obamasiah isn't a messiah of any sort. SP's had best wake up.
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