I briefly tuned in to Meet the Press this afternoon. They were discussing Barack Obama. . Many have argued that he hasn't done that much in Congress and that when you examine closely the substance behind his rhetorical glitter, there's little there there. But one of the panelists in the discussion, a presidential historian, argued that what may be most important in a president is the ability to use his or her rhetorical gifts and charisma to inspire diverse peoples to unite and work together for the common good and that Obama may have the precious potential to do exactly that.
I think this is what I find most promising about Obama and why, unless and until I encounter good reason to do otherwise, I support him for president. He and Hillary may not be that far apart in their politics, but I think they may be world's apart in their ability to inspire "we the people" to make sound political vision reality.
Man is the Rational, Transrational, and Irrational Animal
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If human beings are the rational animal, then it follows that "we need to
understand what it is to be rational and what it is to be an animal"
(Feser). A...
3 hours ago
3 comments:
I agree 100%! Obama is one of the best men i know and his qualities show that he is a great man to lead this nation!
He is doing the complete opposite. He is dividing our nation by completely separating democrats and republicans. He has done nothing in congress so far but find loop holes and undermine the Senate to get his way. He is not listening to the people and their representatives. He is awful.Open your eyes.
Anonymous #2, I agree with you that the nation is divided in a way that I hoped and believed it wouldn't be this far into Obama's presidency. I now think I was terribly naive in this hope and belief.
But I disagree with you that Obama is the cause of the divisiveness. I believe that his goals are commendable, especially so far as health care is concerned. He appears to believe, as I do, that every American citizen has a RIGHT" to good and readily affordable and accessible health care, and I think he has done the best he can given the circumstances to put into effect a means of making this possible.
You say "he is not listening to the people," but I think you are mistaken. I believe that he is listening to all of us and doing his best to satisfy everyone while, at the same time, honoring his aforementioned principles and goals.
Is he doing everything I want him to do with health care? No. I want a system that is not funded by employers and which provides good health care to all regardless of their employment and finances or lack thereof and regardless of whether they, like I, have "pre-existing conditions."
I happen to believe that a single-payer Medicare for all system is the only way to accomplish this, but if someone can convincingly demonstrate how it can be done by the private sector, fine. Until then, until we either have a single-payer government run system or an effective private sector system, I think the legislation over which Obama has presided is the best we can achieve right now, and I would say that I support it.
So, if you mean that he isn't doing want you want him to do when you say that he isn't listening to the people, I say you're wrong. I say he's doing what I and many others want him to do. In other words, he isn't heeding some of the people but he is heeding plenty of others to the best of his ability. He's heeding those who say that our present system is too flawed to continue; that changes need to be made to insure that everyone's essential RIGHT to decent, affordable, and accessible health care is fulfilled.
And I applaud him for it.
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