Recalling a lesson learned in Political Science college courses more than three decades ago, I am reminded that most of the impact and real "power" that a president exerts comes not from his or her actions, but from the tone and character of the policies that the leader establishes. Like a rock thrown in a pond, the impact has limited direct change, but the ripple effect of the action carries far and wide. The disdain and disrespect for government, the ideologic extremism and the self-centered ethic shown by George W. Bush undoubtedly fostered the ensuing corruption, incompetence and mismanagement that spread throughout virtually every corner of his Administration. The point is not to "flog a dead horse" but rather to learn from mistakes.
Going forward, it behooves President-elect Barack Obama to carefully consider the tone and character of his decisions and actions as President. Such choices can send ripple effects that could change the current of present discourse in the country and throughout the world.
Initial decisions regarding his new administration have been mixed. Pronouncements that appointees must pass muster and subsequently adhere to higher standards of ethics designed to inhibit conflicts of interest is a good start. The choice of some Washington insiders walks a dificult line between the pragmatic desire to get things accomplished in an entrenched Washington and the promise to bring real change to the way Washington does business. Yet the choices made so far include individuals of competence that far exceed the levels generally seen in the Bush Administration. Rather than just reward cronies for what they have done for the candidate or party in the past, Obama seems to be making an effort to select individuals for the talent and skills they bring to the table and what they can do for the country in the future. It is a subtle shift, but a hopeful change in tone and character.
One thing that the country could profit by in these times of spiritual as well as economic crisis might be the appointment of a Minister of Culture. Beyond the cliche that "man cannot live by bread alone," there lies a truth that in times of trouble we need something to inspire us to action to improve our circumstances. The need to fill our bellies for survival does not assuage the hunger to feed our souls with ideas and sentiments aspiring to a better existence.
There is perhaps no person, US citizen or otherwise, better suited to fulfill this role than Steveland Morris. Known to millions as "Stevie Wonder," he has been the voice of a generation and his body of work has inspired us for decades. If we take the time to look beyond the captivating rhythms and creative harmonies that Wonder has created, we find critical and complex lyrics that challenge, admonish and inspire us to seek a better world. For an African American of poor beginnings, without extensive "formal education" and who happens to be unsighted, his career and cultural contributions are unsurpassed.
Consider excerpts from songs "a Time to Love":
We have time for racism
We have time for criticism
Held bondage by our ism's
When will there be a time to love
"Higher Ground":
Powers keep on lyin'
While your people keep on dyin'
World keep on turnin'
Cause it won't be too long
I'm so darn glad he let me try it again
Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin
I'm so glad that I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin'
Till I reach my highest ground
and "Conversation Peace":
All for one, one for all
There's no way we'll reach our greatest heights
Unless we heed the call
Me for you, you for me
There's no chance of world salvation
Less the conversation's peace
One need only examine critically, or indeed just listen to, his commentary to recognize that this man who lacks physical sight has shown a greater and clearer vision of society than almost any sighted person. Perhaps the genius lies in seeing the world as it is rather than how it would like to perceive itself. In an era in which media and imagery carry such weight, Wonder stands as an unapologetic standard bearer for social justice.
Beyond his musical genius as a poet and lyricist, Wonder also has demonstrated remarkable creativity and innovation in developing new styles of music and entertainment and the use of novel technological modes of creating art. His breakthroughs in orchestration, the use of digital technology in recording and other examples evident in his work demonstrate an openness to change and innovation in delivering cultural messages to the public. His many collaborative projects evidence a philosophy that creativity can be a process that is inclusive rather than isolationist and self-indulgent.
Yes, appointing Stevie as a Minister of Culture could do wonders [pardon the pun] for the country. The need for bringing us all together and inspiring us toward responsibility as well as hope is great at this time. To paraphrase one of his songs "As", a voice from a higher power tells us:
We all know sometimes life's hates and troubles
Can make you wish you were born in another time and space
But you can bet your life times that, and twice its double
That God knew exactly where he wanted you to be placed.
So make sure when you say you're in it but not of it,
You're not helping to make this earth a place sometimes called Hell.
Change your words into truths and then change that truth into love
And maybe our children's grandchildren
And their great-great grandchildren will tell.
I'll be loving you
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sorry for the Hiatus- I'm Back!
For the few loyalist who follow the rantings and ruminations of this Blog, I offer an apology for the hiatus since the Presidential election in the USA. A rash of excuses might be offered, such as a busy schedule and demands of a teaching career. In truth, the more probable reason is a need to take time and reflect on the events of the world, the changes implicit in selection of new leadership and the ramifications of the decomposition of the global economy, global environment and public trust wrought in large measure by the Bush Administration.
To be sure, all the world's ills cannot be laid at the feet of President George W. Bush. Yet the enormous force and consequences of his Administration's misguided and incompetent leadership amply demonstrates the danger of placing too much faith, power and hope in the hands of any individual leader. Some disasters are, however, more predictable than others. The lack of intellectual capacity and curiosity on the part of Bush foretold an inability to appreciate the important nuances of governance and the unwillingness to consider longer term consequences of willful actions and policies. By any measure and by any viewpoint, save the proponents of world destruction, the presidency of George W. Bush has been a disaster. His sole success has been in topping the list of the worst presidents in the history of the United States, a dubious distinctions.
Yet with his tenure to be shortly at an end, we really have no choice but to pick up the shattered pieces of a nation whose bank, infrastructure and spirit have been broken or at the very least seriously injured. The level of antipathy, sniping and division incited by the GOP over the past decade and supported by its Democratic counterpart has not been seen in the country since the Viet Nam War era and the Civil War before that. The challenge ahead is to meld a critical eye with a positive spirit as the nation seeks to work through the current crises and move toward a more creative and optimistic future.
To that end, the aspiration of this Blog will be to place a positive oar in the water with the hopes of helping to propel the ship of state toward a brighter future. Though meager in scope, the efforts are well intended. I subscribe to the postulate: "If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem." And so I invite all who read this Blog to do the same and add your voices, your commentary, your hopes and your good will. President Barack Obama will need no less if he is to succeed in any real measure in effecting change that the country needs so desperately. Unlike Bush, Obama has declared his belief that the USA government must be "of the people and for the people." That foundational principle of the nation, if achieved, would be a sea change from the government we have experienced for the past eight years. So what say we give him a hand?
To be sure, all the world's ills cannot be laid at the feet of President George W. Bush. Yet the enormous force and consequences of his Administration's misguided and incompetent leadership amply demonstrates the danger of placing too much faith, power and hope in the hands of any individual leader. Some disasters are, however, more predictable than others. The lack of intellectual capacity and curiosity on the part of Bush foretold an inability to appreciate the important nuances of governance and the unwillingness to consider longer term consequences of willful actions and policies. By any measure and by any viewpoint, save the proponents of world destruction, the presidency of George W. Bush has been a disaster. His sole success has been in topping the list of the worst presidents in the history of the United States, a dubious distinctions.
Yet with his tenure to be shortly at an end, we really have no choice but to pick up the shattered pieces of a nation whose bank, infrastructure and spirit have been broken or at the very least seriously injured. The level of antipathy, sniping and division incited by the GOP over the past decade and supported by its Democratic counterpart has not been seen in the country since the Viet Nam War era and the Civil War before that. The challenge ahead is to meld a critical eye with a positive spirit as the nation seeks to work through the current crises and move toward a more creative and optimistic future.
To that end, the aspiration of this Blog will be to place a positive oar in the water with the hopes of helping to propel the ship of state toward a brighter future. Though meager in scope, the efforts are well intended. I subscribe to the postulate: "If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem." And so I invite all who read this Blog to do the same and add your voices, your commentary, your hopes and your good will. President Barack Obama will need no less if he is to succeed in any real measure in effecting change that the country needs so desperately. Unlike Bush, Obama has declared his belief that the USA government must be "of the people and for the people." That foundational principle of the nation, if achieved, would be a sea change from the government we have experienced for the past eight years. So what say we give him a hand?
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
What We Have Regained…
Tonight I sit in stunned silence trying to grasp and to fully absorb the meaning of the events of the day. I am still a bit reluctant to trust my eyes and ears that have heard the media projections and the gracious concession speech of Sen. John McCain, proclaiming the election of Sen. Barack Obama as the next President of the United States of America. The thoughts are a bit jumbled as might be expected from the experience of an event that was heretofore inconceivable.
Yes, my intellectual side argued that this election was a true test of the character of the United States. There would be a challenge to whether the clearly more qualified and better suited candidate would assume the role of leader of the free world, or whether the deeply imbedded racial bigotry of the US populace would thwart this opportunity to recover from devastating incompetence and monumental corruption of the George W. Bush administration. But racism never really has been about rational long term self-interest. And trust in the integrity of the election process has been so tarnished by the experience of the past two national elections. So the risk of rejected opportunity was to be truly feared.
Tonight, however, the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. ring out clearly, calling forth the day when a man might be judged “not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character.” And that dream now is become real. To be certain, nothing less than a man of supreme character is what is needed by the US to manage the crises created by his grossly incompetent predecessor. To right the ship of state and bring it back to a true course would be a miraculous feat. Keeping it from sinking will be a large enough task for any leader. But in a time in which the people of the United States of America can once again dream and have hope in the future for our children, anything may yet be possible.
I saw tears in the eyes of Rev. Jesse Jackson tonight and I understood them. After growing up Black in the United States in a family from which I was the first to ever graduate from college, I heard the clichéd phrase that anyone could grow up to be President. Many thought it a major accomplishment that I could achieve a postgraduate degree and success as a professional attorney. Yet until tonight I admit that I never actually believed that it was possible that a Black man could be elected President of the country. To tell Black children to shoot for the highest office would perhaps inspire them to work very hard and achieve status above any that they might otherwise imagine was all that we dared hope. Not truly honest, but rather a useful deception that has yielded remarkable results. Rev Jackson, Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan all suggested that the content of character was there and ready for the nation to put to effective use if the racial blinders could only be put aside.
Perhaps the dire economic straits of the country and the vacuum of leadership shown by the Bush Administration have been shocking enough to compel the electorate to put aside petty bigotry. Yet one cannot help but notice the electoral map in which the states carried by McCain are remarkably concurrent with the old confederacy. And while McCain has attempted to dispel the bigotry that his campaign deliberately incited to garner support, there will doubtless be some important healing required before the nation can truly move forward.
I have no doubt that Barack Obama will be a fine President. Whether he can achieve greatness will depend upon factors somewhat beyond his control, with regard to the economic crises we face and the willingness of the loyal opposition to work rationally toward compromise in the interest of all. But I also have confidence in the President-Elect regarding his tireless commitment to finding ways to achieve productive and morally justifiable solutions. And in this I place my trust and hope. The world has changed today. That is what we have regained……hope for a future brighter than we have ever known before. That which was heretofore inconceivable has now come to pass; let us all embrace it and celebrate together the possibilities.
Yes, my intellectual side argued that this election was a true test of the character of the United States. There would be a challenge to whether the clearly more qualified and better suited candidate would assume the role of leader of the free world, or whether the deeply imbedded racial bigotry of the US populace would thwart this opportunity to recover from devastating incompetence and monumental corruption of the George W. Bush administration. But racism never really has been about rational long term self-interest. And trust in the integrity of the election process has been so tarnished by the experience of the past two national elections. So the risk of rejected opportunity was to be truly feared.
Tonight, however, the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. ring out clearly, calling forth the day when a man might be judged “not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character.” And that dream now is become real. To be certain, nothing less than a man of supreme character is what is needed by the US to manage the crises created by his grossly incompetent predecessor. To right the ship of state and bring it back to a true course would be a miraculous feat. Keeping it from sinking will be a large enough task for any leader. But in a time in which the people of the United States of America can once again dream and have hope in the future for our children, anything may yet be possible.
I saw tears in the eyes of Rev. Jesse Jackson tonight and I understood them. After growing up Black in the United States in a family from which I was the first to ever graduate from college, I heard the clichéd phrase that anyone could grow up to be President. Many thought it a major accomplishment that I could achieve a postgraduate degree and success as a professional attorney. Yet until tonight I admit that I never actually believed that it was possible that a Black man could be elected President of the country. To tell Black children to shoot for the highest office would perhaps inspire them to work very hard and achieve status above any that they might otherwise imagine was all that we dared hope. Not truly honest, but rather a useful deception that has yielded remarkable results. Rev Jackson, Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan all suggested that the content of character was there and ready for the nation to put to effective use if the racial blinders could only be put aside.
Perhaps the dire economic straits of the country and the vacuum of leadership shown by the Bush Administration have been shocking enough to compel the electorate to put aside petty bigotry. Yet one cannot help but notice the electoral map in which the states carried by McCain are remarkably concurrent with the old confederacy. And while McCain has attempted to dispel the bigotry that his campaign deliberately incited to garner support, there will doubtless be some important healing required before the nation can truly move forward.
I have no doubt that Barack Obama will be a fine President. Whether he can achieve greatness will depend upon factors somewhat beyond his control, with regard to the economic crises we face and the willingness of the loyal opposition to work rationally toward compromise in the interest of all. But I also have confidence in the President-Elect regarding his tireless commitment to finding ways to achieve productive and morally justifiable solutions. And in this I place my trust and hope. The world has changed today. That is what we have regained……hope for a future brighter than we have ever known before. That which was heretofore inconceivable has now come to pass; let us all embrace it and celebrate together the possibilities.
Monday, November 03, 2008
The Most Troubling Thing - Or - What Have We Lost?
Perhaps the most sobering thing and the most troubling thing that weighs upon our minds as the 2008 election day approaches is that we can no longer feel secure with the notion that the results of the election really will reflect the votes actually cast at the polling places. The experience in Ohio in 2004, the subject of a long delayed lawsuit, concerning electronic manipulation of voting machine data is unfortunately far more real and far more serious than the ruminations of conspiracy theorists. In fact, voting data is routinely transmitted via internet with less encryption and security that are bank deposits. No one can really explain why this laxity continues. No one can adequately explain why electronic voting machines are still being used in critical elections in light of the poor security standards.
In this light, a translated quote from Josef Stalin is appropriate:
"You know, comrades," says Stalin, "that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this —- who will count the votes, and how."
As US voters go to the polls in an election that may be the most significant, historic and important contest of a century, the doubt lingers whether it will be those who cast the votes who decide the outcome, or whether it will be those who manipulate and "count" the votes that will decide the outcome as happened in the elections that resulted in placing George W. Bush in the Oval Office.
A recent survey of respected historians yielded the consensus of more than 60% who clearly identified George W. Bush as the worst President that the US has ever had. James Buchanan who bungled his way and the country into civil war was the only close competitor in the minds of those historians. More than 80% noted the impact of the G. W. Bush presidency as wrenching the US from a leadership position in the world and overseeing the fundamental weaking of the US and global economic structure.
Therefore, we can only hope that the wil of the people will be manifest in the election outcome. The country has paid a terrible price for allowing George W. Bush to occupy the White House when it is by no means clear that he actually won the election. At least if the true vote yields a McCain presidency, then the public would have no one to blame but themselves when McCain follows in the footsteps of his predecessor. An Obama win would raise the hope of a serious examination of the electoral process and a drive to re-establish a basis for public confidence in the electoral process. Perhaps a thorough and complete examination of evidence concerning voting data manipulation can help restore that sacred trust that has been lost during the Bush/Rove era.
In this light, a translated quote from Josef Stalin is appropriate:
"You know, comrades," says Stalin, "that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this —- who will count the votes, and how."
As US voters go to the polls in an election that may be the most significant, historic and important contest of a century, the doubt lingers whether it will be those who cast the votes who decide the outcome, or whether it will be those who manipulate and "count" the votes that will decide the outcome as happened in the elections that resulted in placing George W. Bush in the Oval Office.
A recent survey of respected historians yielded the consensus of more than 60% who clearly identified George W. Bush as the worst President that the US has ever had. James Buchanan who bungled his way and the country into civil war was the only close competitor in the minds of those historians. More than 80% noted the impact of the G. W. Bush presidency as wrenching the US from a leadership position in the world and overseeing the fundamental weaking of the US and global economic structure.
Therefore, we can only hope that the wil of the people will be manifest in the election outcome. The country has paid a terrible price for allowing George W. Bush to occupy the White House when it is by no means clear that he actually won the election. At least if the true vote yields a McCain presidency, then the public would have no one to blame but themselves when McCain follows in the footsteps of his predecessor. An Obama win would raise the hope of a serious examination of the electoral process and a drive to re-establish a basis for public confidence in the electoral process. Perhaps a thorough and complete examination of evidence concerning voting data manipulation can help restore that sacred trust that has been lost during the Bush/Rove era.
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