I’ve just visited for the first time The White House Blog, watched the video, and read the transcript of President Obama’s Weekly address in which he gives details of his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (ARRP), which, he says is to “immediately jump start job creation as well as long-term economic growth.”
Wow. Maybe ignorance is bliss. But the more I hear about our overall financial situation, the more I become worried. And, I’m worried that as a nation we are not worried enough. It seems likely we are only at the beginning of an era of dangerous economic turmoil. We’ve been pushed out to sea by powerful forces we can’t control.
I heard a good comparison to our current attitude to this economic crisis to the attitude of the Richard Dreyfuss character in Jaws — before he actually saw the shark up close — concerned, but not properly reality based terrified. After he saw the shark, the Dreyfuss character gasped, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
We need bold action, and I wonder if the steps Obama outlines in his ARRP, really are bold enough. The crisis we find ourselves has not yet focused our attention. In this economic crisis, I fear, we’ve not really seen the shark, yet. And, I wonder if, when we do, Obama will have the capacity to take the bold actions that might be needed.
Obama finished his address with these words: “If we act as citizens and not partisans and begin again the work of remaking America, then I have faith that we will emerge from this trying time even stronger and more prosperous than we were before.”
I had to laugh out loud when I heard the Republican leader, John Boehner, on Meet the Press say, “Somebody has to be looking out for the taxpayers. And I’m going to tell you what, Republicans are going to be there to look out for American taxpayer.” Considering the Republican record of outrageous profligacy under George W. Bush — spending bushels of money, borrowing oceans of money, sinking the country into $4 trillion more debt — Boehner’s tears for the American taxpayer are a hoot. As a Republican leader who empowered Bush’s every incompetent act, Boehner has no credibility. It’s obvious, he is simply being partisan.
But, Obama, himself, must guard his own credibility, his own integrity. Obama must guard against appearing simply partisan. I count three ways that, just this past week, Obama hurt his credibility.
First of all, as I wrote here, Obama, I fear, made a big error by defending Timothy Geithner’s non payment of taxes as an “innocent mistake.” Certainly, Obama can’t believe that Geithner’s non payment was “innocent.” I’m sorry, such a claim is simply not believable and by asserting something to be true that is totally not believable, Obama makes himself look like he is lacking in integrity.
Second, Obama, I fear, made a big error in his handling of the Gazan War. His comments seemed very unbalanced in favor of Israel. In my judgment, by not fairly acknowledging the reality and truth of Israel’s unnecessary violence, Obama’s comments on Gaza makes him look like he is lacking in integrity.
Third, I fear that Obama made a big error by taking his campaign organization — one that had attracted a lot of Independents and nonvoters — and putting it within the Democratic National Committee as a new group, Organizing for America.
The LA Times reports: “President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday took his first public steps toward transforming his massive grassroots political machinery into an unprecedented national network to help pass his policy agenda. Obama said the new network would be used as a tool to press for policies on major issues, including the healthcare system, the Iraq war and the development of new energy sources….That means the organization, as it grows, will be well-positioned to be used as a vehicle for his reelection campaign, to bolster the campaigns of Obama-friendly Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, and to pressure those in his party who do not agree with him. (E-mails were sent to) 13 million supporters.”
Wow. That sound pretty partisan to me. Yet, on the White House blog, in trying to gain support for his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, Obama emphasizes that we should “act as citizens and not partisans.”
Obama’s basic instincts, expressed in the campaign, I feel, are correct: The way forward must be through a vitalization of our democracy, through invigorated citizenship, not one-sided partisanship. This president, as time goes on, will, no doubt, have hard truths to tell us. His integrity and credibility must be beyond question. Obama needs to surround himself with people who will push him to the highest levels of integrity, where partisanship is transcended.
We need a bigger boat.
