8. Thoughts on the presidential campaign?This is my attempt at answering it.
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Make no mistake: this election is of monumental importance. Still, I fully appreciate the fact that the executive branch is much larger than the president, and the election is much larger than its primary players.
For my money, I think this election provides an important opportunity for the citizens of this nation to stand up for civility and mutual respect in civic discourse and to become thoughtful practitioners of temperance; to steadfastly engage one another with grace and without malice; and to learn to not only negotiate but embrace ideological difference in order to learn from one another, to act with beneficence, to protect and preserve that which is worthy of such care, and to progress.
When people I value, respect, and just-plain-like make unfounded, disparaging, dismissive, unsupported, vicious comments that attack either ‘side’ through ad hominem and dogmatic arguments, I am greatly saddened. I am saddened by the anger and venom that accompanies almost all of our contemporary public discourse. I am saddened by the far right claiming proprietary rights over faith, and I am sickened by the far left claiming proprietary rights over intelligence. These strategies are unfair, unprincipled, and inaccurate and, to my mind, do not reflect, to borrow an iconic phrase, the state of our union. These practices—not any act of congress nor executive order nor economic crisis—will be our nation’s undoing.
In this election cycle, especially, I pledge to remind myself to think, act, speak, disagree, and compose not without passion but with patience, consideration, and openness. Does anyone care to join me in the attempt?
3 comments:
I'm in agreement with all of your points, but I'll add one more-- I'm tired of blatant dishonesty coming out of the mouths of politicians and their surrogates. Whether it's John Edwards insisting he hasn't committed adultery or John Boehner acting incredulous and claiming that Nancy Pelosi sabotaged the House bailout initiative, I'm sick of it. I've noticed that these people always feign surprise when called to explain something-- like today, McCain kind of shrugging and expressing his "disappointment" that Gwen Ifill is moderating tonight's debate, despite the fact that they approved her nearly two months ago.
I supported Obama in the Democratic primaries because I felt that he was the Democratic candidate who best embodied the virtues you've written about, and who also struck me as trustworthy (actually, that's not true-- I liked Kucinich for the same reasons. But c'mon. Who's gonna vote for a vegetarian?). Hillary Clinton has been caught in lies before, and, frankly, she and John Edwards were both so quick to promise liberal bloggers and journalists the moon while going on television to appeal to "moderate" voters (how in the world someone can tell one audience they support full and equal rights for gay people but turn to another and assure them, "No, I'm not gonna let them get married" is, frankly, beyond me). I know plenty of liberals who shrug and say, "That's the way the game's played-- hopefully, they'll keep their promises to us instead of them." Yeah. Sure. Go ahead and believe that-- me, I'm gonna vote for the guy who isn't necessarily telling me what he thinks I want to hear.
Anyway. I'm voting for Obama in the general election for... well, not exactly the same reason. Let's face it-- I'm a liberal. I'm gonna vote for the guy who has been against the war from the start, supports abortion rights, and has Mos Def on his iPod. But, frankly, I think he's run a much more civil campaign than John McCain (that's not to say his supporters have always been civil-- I've got no use for the Daily Kos, or most liberal bloggers at this point), and I feel like he's been more honest, too. Consider last week, when McCain "suspended" his campaign so that he could... well, be interviewed by Katie Couric, send his staff out to all the cable news shows, and then not take the initiative in drafting a plan to save the economy. What was the point again?
To be clear, though-- I'm a liberal because I believe that liberal economic policies do the most for the largest number of people, liberal domestic policies do more to provide freedom and rights to the largest number of people, and liberal foreign policy has the best chance for success against the threats of the 21st century. It isn't that I think liberals are "smart" and conservatives are "dumb"-- each ideology has its own intellectual foundation; I just happen to agree with one and not the other.
(And, to be frank, I'm not sure that McCain knows a whole lot about the intellectual foundations of conservatism).
The stakes are really high this year-- more so than in previous elections. War, tanking economy, and the return of Knight Rider to network television is making life in America really difficult right now. And both sides feel like all hope is lost if the other side wins. Nevertheless, your point is well-taken-- people do need to remember that the Manichean divide of liberal/ conservative, red state/ blue state, Two Americas, us vs. them bullshit is all fabrication, designed to convince us that those who hold opinions we don't share are foul, mean-spirited people who want to replace our nation's founding values with either a theocracy or mandatory sodomy (depending on whether you vote Democrat or Republican). And that type of rabid hostility keeps us at each other's throats and holds us all back.
So, in summary-- well-said, Chrissy. Mahalo.
Well said, my friend, and I agree. I am having my students read a brief op/ed piece that deals specifically with blatant dishonesty, equivocation, et al.--and just yesterday we surveyed presidential campaign ads from
1952, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1984 and it is amazing and awful that the 'culture of fallacy,' if you will, is evidenced so clearly in political rhetoric.
You know, I'm a Republican on principle, not always on policy. When I see evidence that our elected officials are not representing the interests of the people, as the constitution outlines, I get itchy. When I see evidence of a chasm between our elected officials and our citizenry, I get mad. And when I see infighting among the constituency . . . well, apparently I blog.
You and I have always been able to sit down together, talk, argue, etc., but despite our differences we have also made a very good team. That is just one reason I know that what we have said here is possible.
Bottom line: thanks, man.
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