I love President Obama more and more all the time. His approach is so different from what we've seen in recent years. Sometimes I just have to stop and enjoy the breath of fresh air he is spreading across the land.
A big waft of that fresh air came with the speech Obama gave at Notre Dame. Instead of remarks to polarize and agitate, Obama asked for tolerance and an end to the demonization of our opponents (aka the Rove way). That's change we can all believe in.
The tone is changing. Increasingly, protestors on both sides come across as overly shrill. Those tactics don't work any more. Use tactics that don't make me dislike you the moment you open your mouth. More often than not, winning and being right are two very different things.
I hear the homos grumbling about how little President Obama has done for us. Get real. Other than that thing with the cigar, DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell) was Clinton's biggest mistake. It's not fair, but the truth of the matter is that any kind of push for gay rights by the POTUS serves mostly as a stick jammed into the hornet's nest of far-right religious fanatics. Pissing them off and giving them a focal point (i.e., POTUS) helps them more than us.
The big thing we need to do right now is keep our fingers crossed that the economy turns around and the Republicans remain clueless so that Obama gets elected to a second term. Voting on a single issue is out. Voting for consensus-builders is in. Demonizing those with different opinions is out. Finding common ground to solve problems is in. If you're not part of the solution, well, you're the problem.
And that's why they call me...
The Crotchety Old Man
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment