http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/thankful-that-obama-has-h_b_371678.htmlSteve Clemons
Publisher of "The Washington Note"
Posted: November 26, 2009 01:29 PM
Thankful That Obama Has Helped Make Dissent And Debate Patriotic And Safe Again
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I am grateful that we have Barack Obama in the White House -- because he has changed the face of the nation - and altered forever the horizon of what is possible for Americans who don't have the Anglo-Saxon cosmetic veneer that every U.S. president before Barack Obama possessed.
I also am grateful for Obama's invitation for debate and fair-minded criticism. His decision to bring in policy practitioners who have divergent views from one another, his embrace of heterodoxy, and the manner in which these conflicts come right up to his desk reflect a profound self-confidence in our young president.
Obama's embrace of debate and political diversity can be both strength and weakness -- but in the long run, it's better to have debate than not in a time when the world is at a major punctuation point in history and when things tomorrow will be quite different than they were yesterday.
There are many things I'm not happy about.
I'm not happy about the policy choices of Obama's economic team that have produced a Wall street bailout while banks still dither in their loans and small businesses still find an economic noose around their necks as they try to secure financing. I don't like how the administration has underperformed on job creation. I'm not happy that the tens of thousands of gay and lesbian soldiers in the Armed Forces and National Reserve still have to live a lie as they put themselves on the line for the security and welfare of all Americans of every brand and stripe. The failure of the administration to secure a strategic leap out of the mess the Bush administration left in the Middle East and with Iran, Israel/Palestine, and Afghanistan is very worrisome.
But what a change in a few years.
It's "safe" again to pose uncomfortable questions to the president of the United States and his team. It is actually "patriotic". Barack Obama embraces this patriotism of those who challenge him and dissent from his core policy positions and decisions. This is a stunning difference with the political world America has left behind.
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I have a lot of criticism that I direct at the Obama White House -- but I try to be civil and fair-minded, inspired by the President and how his team mostly operates (the Greg Craig situation being a major and disappointing exception).
But this White House embraces differences, rivals, and debate. This is extraordinarily important, and of all things this Thanksgiving -- I'm thankful that challenging the government's course and trying to put better ideas on the table are unabashedly patriotic again.
Have a good, old fashioned policy debate with someone you don't necessarily see eye to eye with this weekend -- and feel good about it. Shake hands when it's over, and agree to disagree if things end up that way.
That is what we have back again -- and that's something to celebrate.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.