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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Bi-Partisan

I don't think of myself as bipartisan. As a matter of fact, for the most part, I take the side against both parties. It seems to me that if the parties would get out of the way we could all be better Americans.

That being said, I did vote Democrat last time. I think we've got a phenomenally astute and sensitive president this time, and I go to bed every night feeling that the country is lucky to have him in place. We are in great need of wisdom and moderation at this point.

I get the feeling that most of my blog readers get a little uneasy when I talk politics. On my first blog I used to get political all the time, but it doesn't come up so much in Hoboken. For one thing, local politics here is a different animal than it was in Alabama. In Hoboken, I don't know where the bodies are buried, or who buried them (literally), and the nature of politics is very different. I observe with detachment and awareness that I'm a long way from being informed about what is really going on. I'm welcome at the city council meetings, but haven't found my way to one yet. I know we're ready for change, and was set to work for a lady name Beth Mason, a city council member who has been exploring the possibility of running for mayor, but haven't heard from her lately.

On the national scene, I was overwhelmed for the whole year of the last campaign. I watched John McCain morph into a different man from the one I had supported in 2000, and Hillary Clinton emerge as a legitimate contender for the office. But the main thing I saw was the extraordinary emergence of one of the most interesting people ever to seek office in this or any country. He confounded pundits and opposition alike, who kept trying to smoke out of him the expected behavior--anger, competitiveness, pettiness--and in the face of adversity all he showed us was brilliance and grace. That he would actually win seemed too good to be true. That we would be subjected to the kind of balanced, positive, and courageous talk he gave last night just wouldn't have seemed possible a few years ago when we heard only a stumbling, inept, and seemingly lost man try to live up to the job with which he was charged.

Yeah, say Obama's critics, but is he bipartisan? To that, I and apparently most of the people in my country say, he has tried to be. He included a number of tax cuts in the program he has signed through. He has made personal overtures to many members of his opposition and the response he gets is, "That isn't enough. You think we're going to consider your suggestions because you're nice to us? No way. We see through that!"

Which all seems like playground bullying to me. A president can only be as bipartisan as the other party will allow.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like you, I sleep much better at night with our new president at the helm. I was interested in the LA gov Bobby Jindal's response - and found it sadly back-ward-looking: and over caffeinated. Poor guy- awfully hard act to follow.
"Fair Hope of Heaven" is a marvelous read, by the way! Do you think a Hoboken story may be next?

Steve said...

Jindal following Obama kind of reminds me of Jimmy Carter responding to Reagan.

Mary Lois said...

birdwatcher, I'm kinda waiting for "popular demand." Hope more of my Hoboken readers will look it up on amazon and order it. In the meantime, I'm glad it's doing pretty well, as the blog is.

Anonymous said...

what's in the water up there in jersey? i just don't know where to begin on this one, i could go on all day...but i'll just say this: there were probably a heck of a lot of people in germany in the 1930s that felt the same way about their new leader...what a stinker he turned out to be!

Mary Lois said...

Now there's an extreme reaction--Obama as Hitler! Somebody out there in Iowa is drinking Rush Limbaugh's cocktails...any of my readers agree with this one?

Steve said...

Obama as Hitler?
Complete nonsense..I think we all know that Hitler didn't even like black people.

Anonymous said...

never said he was hitler, just a very charismatic speaker who misled his people as the country was in dire straits and needed someone to look up to...don't think he'll commit genocide, but he seems to regard the constitution the same way i regard my charmin

Anonymous said...

A facile if somewhat nasty image about the toilet paper, sinjap. However, he was a professor of Constitutional law and I respect his greater knowledge of it than my own.

You don't have to like him, you don't have to trust him, but all I'm saying is give the guy a chance. He's only been in the job for a month and he's got a lot on his plate. I've read his books and listened to his speeches and I think he just might pull us out of this mess in time. It certainly doesn't help to have people jump on his every move before anything has had time to take effect.

Anonymous said...

Here in the U.K. I am deeply jealous. I would love to have been able to vote for Obama. I have read both his books, and follow his progress with great interest. Could it be that, for once, this man is as he seems to be? Honest, caring, intelligent, passionate and wise. He's very easy on the eye too! Not that that is important, of course not!

Anonymous said...

sinjap wrote knee jerk reactions to what he thinks OBama will do and a common just you watch whine. Yes, OBama is trying to use a Congressional Work Around tactic creating Czars. Just like Bush did claiming executive priviledge for Scooter. But so far, neither tactic has been proven unconstitutional.
Better to provide and support positive alternatives to OBama plans and not just negative rants. I am a Republican. I love Newt. I want to influence Obama. Sinjaps negative comments are, if not destructive, at best-useless.

Anonymous said...

sorry to be such a downer to the discussion...i just call 'em like i see 'em...to be honest i think the greatest threat to our freedom lies in the power-hungry dimwits of congress...the courts are another matter...obama (or whoever is unlucky enough to have that post) is just 1/3 of the problem