tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post646844026080474893..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: History Is MadeJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-14065021590444533022011-12-13T00:05:56.041-06:002011-12-13T00:05:56.041-06:00Whenever I feel down about the state of politics i...Whenever I feel down about the state of politics in our country, I like to go back and re-read this post and the comments. While I've been an admirer of Obama since before the 2008 primaries, it's always good to see why he is a unique public figure, and how his profoundly American vision of politics is necessary in our country, especially at this moment. I hope to hell he's able to not only beat the GOP challenger, but enable American citizens to believe once more that we can chart a successful course for our country.Bryannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-32935370421869068842010-03-30T01:13:20.414-05:002010-03-30T01:13:20.414-05:00This is, indeed, a fascinating topic. What I foun...This is, indeed, a fascinating topic. What I found so interesting about Obama during the campaign was that he seemed to want to change the whole game. He was a Democratic candidate...but also something more. He acted within the media narrative, but also created his own counter-narrative. He didn't look at the existing field and say, "What position do I play?" Instead, he came with his own game, and tried to find as many people as possible to join him in it. Like others have said, he is a true leader; not just in title, but in character. Part of what I find so fascinating is that the media has not, so far, nailed down what made (and makes) him so attractive. It's not that he's black, or liberal. It's not even that he's a great orator. I thing it's this "leadership" quality. <br /><br />Anyway, I could go on and on about this. Like I said, fascinating topic.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13674158270921940457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-65305072545351193572010-03-29T21:20:51.323-05:002010-03-29T21:20:51.323-05:00To me, much of these post-health care speeches too...To me, much of these post-health care speeches took me back to Obama's most personal speech of the campaign: Philadelphia, and the fact America is not perfect but can consistently be perfected. That, although his most speech, was also his most honest and personal speech. He's just carrying the theme forward as he puts those principles into action. He's empowering himself while at the same time empowering his fellow citizens.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-64410831436268001932010-03-29T18:02:35.427-05:002010-03-29T18:02:35.427-05:00Sounds very much like Hannah Arendt in "On Re...Sounds very much like Hannah Arendt in "On Revolution" and "The Human Condition".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-8565850884389974372010-03-29T14:19:23.916-05:002010-03-29T14:19:23.916-05:00Just a random observation: can you imagine George...Just a random observation: can you imagine George W. Bush comprehending any of Obama's speech, let alone writing/editing it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-53094268859094559162010-03-29T13:33:42.696-05:002010-03-29T13:33:42.696-05:00Seriously? People think this is "deep" i...Seriously? People think this is "deep" interpretation? Political entities are what political actions they perform?<br /><br />No shit.<br /><br />And moral entities are constituted by what moral actions they perform, sentient entities by sentient actions, football entities by football actions, and so on.<br /><br />Guessing this blogger is a litcridiot, to whom precious little in this world is obvious.<br /><br />Gah. The things that pass as deep thinking in this country...sherifffruitflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14676077292357887614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-50210259703455154632010-03-27T14:29:06.506-05:002010-03-27T14:29:06.506-05:00Candidate Obama once said he wanted "to make ...Candidate Obama once said he wanted "to make politics cool again". judging by the well thought out, troll free comments on a great blog post by Mr. Bernstein dare i say he's making some headway?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-56861775454727480322010-03-27T11:26:18.255-05:002010-03-27T11:26:18.255-05:00An excellent post, with excellent comments in the ...An excellent post, with excellent comments in the thread.<br /><br />Lots of commentators---from the left and from the right---seem to have trouble getting a handle of Obama and his approach to politics. <br /><br />That may be because a big part of Obama's thinking about politics comes from the organizers who carried on "After Alinsky" (also the title of a 1990 book by Illinois community organizers, among them a young Barack Obama).<br /><br />Over the last 30 years, organizers at the Gamaliel Foundation and the Industrial Areas Foundation (Obama learned from both, primarily Gamaliel), as well as organizers at similar organizing networks (PICO, DART, IVP and others), have put together an ever-evolving body of knowledge about how to engage effectively in public life. <br /><br />Part of that knowledge is relational---the habits and customs that make for powerful and effective relationships in the public arena. Part of that knowledge is intellectual---habits of mind and ways of thinking about the world that, again, contribute to more powerful and effective ways of engaging in public life.<br /><br />It's interesting to watch some of Obama's opponents struggle to understand this organizing tradition and put it to use. Beck, Limbaugh, and some of the Tea Partiers (among others) are buying copies of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals", and citing Gandhi and King as role models for action.<br /><br />What they don't seem to have grasped yet is twofold:<br /><br />1) to adopt the strategies and tactics of Gandhi, King, Alinsky, etc., to build a right-wing political culture and organizations, will require from them decades of persistent, disciplined, unglamorous work to rebuild their political power; and,<br /><br />2) if they are serious about building a relational political culture to counter the culture that helped shape President Obama, they will have to (sooner rather than later) separate themselves from the violent and extremist culture that now seems to be taking over the Republican party, and the conservative movement as a whole.massappealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17883213166005005577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-73479581431686086262010-03-27T09:46:16.037-05:002010-03-27T09:46:16.037-05:00An excellent post, and very insightful comments. I...An excellent post, and very insightful comments. I think I agree most with Rex's thoughts on Obama's communitarianism. Back in 2006, when I was working for a nonprofit, I did an analysis of Obama's Knox College commencement address, and came to some similar conclusions. It starts on page 14 of <a href="http://www.spinproject.org/downloads/AmericanOpportunity.pdf" rel="nofollow">this PDF</a> if you're interested. <br /><br />In that speech, he described America as "a place where destiny was not a destination, but a journey to be shared and shaped and remade."<br /><br />And that, for me, remains Obama's basic argument. America's real promise is one of inclusion and opportunity. With that opportunity comes a responsibility we all share to actively shape this radical project of democracy that we're all engaged in. <br /><br />And of course it's politics that is the means to do that. <br /><br />Thanks for a great post. I'd love to see more on this topic, Jonathan. I think it's fascinating.hwicklinehttp://www.hwickline.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-8603588837090621012010-03-27T09:40:33.436-05:002010-03-27T09:40:33.436-05:00Don't forget that Obama has set up a grassroot...Don't forget that Obama has set up a grassroots organizing campaign inside of the DNC, that is organizing as we speak, congressional district by district to involve people. Sure he has a lot of rhetoric and skills applied at the top but he's really transforming the way the base is working too.Mark Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05782149227841720931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-1786995146938952462010-03-27T07:40:54.949-05:002010-03-27T07:40:54.949-05:00all great points but i like the part about playing...all great points but i like the part about playing the long game best. every time i see/hear this man at some public function or on tv i am more than struck by how everyone else is entirely focused on the narrow and immediate while he seems to be somewhere off in the distance. i don't mean that in a man of vision sort of way, just that he seems to occupy some other kind of space than everyone else. i don't love this man because he's black, or progressive, or from chicago, or harvard educated, or even not-bush. i love this man because he's 6 to 8 moves ahead of everyone else. an actual leader, not just someone who's been elected to a leadership role. that's what i think has everybody so freaked out. it's been just forever since we've had anyone with bonified leadership skills at the helm that we've lost the ability to first recognize it and then give it credence.Raelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12073719077778065808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-52629165916845418952010-03-27T06:49:46.262-05:002010-03-27T06:49:46.262-05:00Fascinating post, and I really enjoyed the comment...Fascinating post, and I really enjoyed the comments as well. Thanks.<br /><br />Cathy, I think you've correctly identified Obama's ambition, and yet the *how* of getting there is what I'm still conflicted over. I would like, more than anything, to be part of that "significant, non-partisan, forward-looking" change in American politics. But when I see and hear the crazy 30% out there - lately embodied in the teabagger crowd - spreading their lies and hate and psychosis, my first instinct is to hit them back as ferociously and directly as possible. I can't seem to get into Obama's "brush 'em off" mindset.Toasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03418826323088878609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-68909533208684816012010-03-27T00:43:13.570-05:002010-03-27T00:43:13.570-05:00Two years ago, I felt that the difference between ...Two years ago, I felt that the difference between the three democratic frontrunners could be summed up like this: John Edwards wanted to reform the economy, Hillary Clinton wanted to reform society, and Barak Obama wanted to reform politics. I am still not sure whether people who voted for Obama necessarily understood or supported what he wanted to do, but he took this has a mandate and, inch by inch, he is doing it. He sincerely believes that Americans can do anything they want to do -- "Yes, we can" is the essence of his being. In the end, if he CAN reform American politics, then society and the economy will follow. The Teabaggers who are so opposed to him call him names like fascist and communist because they don't know WHAT to call him, but in some visceral way they recognize what the progressives so far have not -- that Obama actually is aiming to change the way politics is being practiced in America, creating a significant, non-partisan, forward-looking change in how American democracy functions. This is terribly threatening to some on both the right and the left, who are too comfortable with the existing system.Cathie from Canadahttp://www.cathiefromcanada.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-52455784938665560522010-03-26T23:06:48.016-05:002010-03-26T23:06:48.016-05:00Very good piece and insightful observations.Very good piece and insightful observations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-84312924708035223962010-03-26T22:14:04.929-05:002010-03-26T22:14:04.929-05:00"...there's yet another strain of Obama&#..."...there's yet another strain of Obama's thought that seems to be about Washington-speak -- that what's wrong with politics is that pols talk in poll-tested spin, instead of actually saying what they mean. I'm not sure whether all the pieces here cohere into one general idea of politics and democracy. Nor, of course, is it easy to sort through Obama's own spin and poll-tested language -- he may not like it, but he certainly engages in it as much as any other pol..."<br /><br />Don't forget his by-name swipe at GOP pollster Frank Luntz during his give-and-take at the GOP winter retreat at the end of January. You're on to something with the above thought...WikiBobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06214883521092100764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-6574946918778348382010-03-26T21:28:07.628-05:002010-03-26T21:28:07.628-05:00I always like to try to get a bead on a politician...I always like to try to get a bead on a politician's moral compass. I'd say Obama is (what I'd call) an "inclusive communitarian". The "inclusive" part is egalitarian and what makes liberal egalitarians (like me) think he's one of them, but then miss the more fundamental part, his communitarianism. Hence, the rhetoric of "not red, not blue, but united", which speaks to the community ideal, the lack of a hard sell of the fundamental liberal principle of equal effective *autonomy* (preferring instead the principle of equal effective *belonging*). It also explains his legislative caution, not wanting to get too far out front of the polity's comfort zone. It also would explain the point of this post (which I hadn't thought of before), his identification of the American project as fundamentally a political, hence collective, project. The political caution and political activism seem to conflict, but I think what seems to drive Obama nuts are obstacles that block *any* activism, even compromise solutions to things almost everyone honest and informed agrees that are a problem. <br /><br />Adding to this, there's the "liberal arts" part of his personality, which is as deeply committed to intellectual honesty as you can get in a politician who also wants to get elected and get laws made (the qualification explaining his forays into the usual boilerplate b.s. which, conveniently, overlaps with some things he sincerely believes in). It's this intellectual compass that disdains overheated, demonizing political rhetoric, that doesn't listen to and learn from the other side, and that is unwilling to horse trade. <br /><br />That's the part that I keep waiting for pundits to point out, Obama's desire to return politics to being the art of compromise, which a number of elements cited above (politics is for making headway on important problems, we're the purple states of america, reasonable people can disagree...and cut deals, etc.)<br /><br />Apologies for length.Rexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-35384894663629855262010-03-26T13:51:41.531-05:002010-03-26T13:51:41.531-05:00I think that this is an excellent reading of Obama...I think that this is an excellent reading of Obama's core rhetorical moves:<br /><br />"What Obama is saying here is that politics, rightly understood, is the very core of what makes this nation a nation. Not individualism, not religiosity, and certainly not ethnicity or the land itself, but politics."<br /><br />What struck me in his speech to House Democrats urging passage was that he sought to valorize political careers, to say to the elected representatives that they had all at some point experienced the belief that there were things worth fighting for, and reasons to get involved. <br /><br />I for one found this to be incredibly refreshing, a remarkable refusal to engage with the cynicism that many people have about elected office. Now obviously the fact that he was talking to elected officials is a key factor here, but I would also note that it seems to be a recurring theme in his speeches. He respects those who have run for office, and while he takes the position as running for change, he doesn't seem to run as an "outsider" against "career politicians."Davidnoreply@blogger.com