i started this blog post a week ago, just 2 days after seeing Obama's acceptance speech, choking up when hearing Obama's refrain, watching the crowd near my home town, feeling comfort in the fact that the citizenry finally toppled the Bush empire.
i believe that we can change societies because i've witnessed it happen. and, while i battled the post's pretensions and let it sit, i watched as people around the globe expressed their beliefs and hopes of social change with our new president.
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Symbols are powerful things. Sometimes they have a life all their own. They may come to mean something more than first intended. History has been made. We shall see what kind of history it will be.
-Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prison Radio
Obama represents possibility, an ethical climb to a more just world order, and proof of our continuing social unfinishedness. in 1619 a European ship carrying 20 African Slaves landed in Jamestown to work in the growing tobacco fields. many humanitarian battles later, we have a half-African elected president of the United States. just 43 years after blacks gained real voting rights, the country's youth and minority came out in support of a black president. while the last eight years will come to represent madness, greed, fear, prejudice, stupidity, and depression, we have elected a president who embodies the possibility of social progress.
but what should we do now?--those of us who won't base our economic and social systems on the belief that humanity is by nature greedy and vindictive, and those of us who remain unconvinced that Christ's second coming is the solution to global warming and inhumane occupations in the Middle East. what should we do to help pass the progressive legislation we hope for with Obama?
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No we haven't.
we elected symbolic power, kinetic energy-Yes we did on November 4th. we resisted another masthead of idiotic, fear-mongering religious fanatics-Yes we did. and we should celebrate- Yes we have--but let's not be too pleased. we elected a progressive symbol, but let's not get that confused with Obama's function as a policy maker. Let's have no illusions. We suffered 8 years of illusions and can stand no more.
Obama's executive decisions just began, and we already have a disconnect between the progressive symbol of Obama and his moderate-conservative economic and foreign policy positions. just after the election, he named Rahm “Rhambo” Israel Emanuel as his chief of staff. what should concern us here is Rhambo's stance on the gravest humanitarian concern of our time- the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. the Gaza Strip has effectively become a 140 square mile prison, one in which Israel has recently barred the U.N. delivery of all food and “basic humanitarian assistance,” starving 750,000 Palestinian civilians. Obama's appointment of an Anti-Palestine chief of staff should be no surprise, considering the absurd concessions Obama made to AIPAC ("Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided"- a comment that “exceeds what most Israeli leaders would say”). under a rational, humanist president, the Gaza Strip wouldn't exist in its current form for another day (even Hamas, a democratically elected government party nonetheless labeled a terrorist organization, has called for a two-state solution), but Obama's first appointment and his stance throughout his campaign has signaled no positive change on this issue of basic humanity. today, we need to view Obama with suspicion instead of being blinded by his symbolic progressivism. those who starve in Palestine tonight, and who will continue to suffer if we leave Obama to rule uncritiqued, have no illusions of change. we can't afford any illusions either.
after Greenspan blew his mind and deregulation brought the world's economy to its knees, one commentator stated "with Democrats like these, who needs Republicans" when referencing Obama's pics for Treasury Secretary, Goldman Sachs was Obama's 2nd largest contributor of campaign funds, Obama has moved toward the center when talking about the war in Iraq and has promised more warfare in Pakistan and Afghanistan, he doesn't support gay marriage, and he hasn't yet put his support behind John Conyer's single-payer health care plan.
the message is that we haven't won anything but the opportunity for change. we're done selling Obama, and we used great energy and collaboration to get him elected- now we have to maintain that energy to educate about rational legislation (i would say "sell" "progressive" legislation, but basic rights should be mainstream and need no advertisement). our vote was a historical one for a great symbol and an energizing figure, but as a legislator Obama was only the better of two politicians in a sad political reality.
if we want to change corporate take over, change the cynical health care industry, change legalized prejudice, or change belligerent and immoral U.S. foreign policy, we still have to do it in spite of our formal leaders. we can, and we have to, but we can't rest now.
get in the streets. i'll be there soon.
love
tb
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