Got to bed about 1:30 am last night. I was hoping to hear a result on the Coleman/Franken race, but at that point Coleman was up about 80 votes (!!) and it was clear it wasn’t going to be called any time soon. So I went to bed.
Got up about 7 am thanks to our early-rising 2-year-old (and 7 am is really sleeping in for him.) And strangely, I didn’t feel too bad. Started cleaning up the party stuff while listening to NPR.
One thing that struck me about Obama’s speech last night was how somber and restrained it was. I loved the (subtle) references to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sam Cooke. But overall, this speech was not a celebration. He obviously knows that all the work, all the fighting against stereotype and distrust and tribalism has just been prelude. Now he has to lead a nation.
I thought he did a masterful job of reaching out last night to all Americans. But there are some who heard it differently. A conservative woman I know told me today she is distraught because she heard Obama has said his first act will be to sign an executive order legalizing partial birth abortions. And that he has said he wants to redistrubute wealth.
I asked her if she thought his speech last night tried to extend a hand to people like her who didn’t support him. “No,” she said.
It’s an example of what President Obama will face. Rumors, myths, misinformation campaigns, and a segment of the electorate determined to see the worst in him, determined not to give him a break. No wonder he was somber last night. The hard work hasn’t yet begun.
1 comment:
It really should be obvious, but... Any time any politician alters the tax code - which would include Bush reducing the marginal rate for high-income taxpayers, say - those acts "redistribute the wealth" in the sense that wage-earners thereby keep more or less of their total salary, and typically some wage-earners keep more while others keep less. If this is "socialism," then we've had socialist government since the early 20th century. (Okay, some hardcore tinfoil-hat wingnuts will say, "Finally this guy sees the light!")
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