I firmly believe that "Yes We Can" got Barack Obama elected President of The United States. It sure got my vote. In retrospect I must confess that idealism got the best of me. There will be change but not nearly at the pace that Obama implied. The economic mess he inherited certinly put a few potholes in the road to change but something more important happened. Obama the idealistic campaigner morphed into Obama the pragmatic President.
Pragmatism is not bad. In the long run it produces more lasting change. Key words - in the long run. Politics and change make reluctant partners. Congress resembles the committee that designed the camel. The product is not always pretty but eventually it will get the job done. Obama is enough of a pragmatist to realize that he cannot get change as fast as his oratory implied without changing the very institution whose support he needs. A formidable task - change will come slowly!
Case in point, imposing a mandatory limit on climate-altering gases . Save the earth! Yes , but not so fast. Eventually we'll have a system that sets a government ceiling on total emissions and allows polluting industries to buy and sell permits to meet it. Sounds like Congress with Obama's blessing will design another camel. It also looks like the draft system used in the Civil War era. ( From a Theory to a Consensus on Emissions ).
Obama the pragmatist is not an unwelcome change even though it is not the change he promised. As long as he remains a strong and resolute leader who can prod a bulky Congress we will eventually get change. There will be enough time for Obama the idealist to reimerge in 2012.
1 comment:
A true and thoughtful post, Tony. I will mull on this to break the monotony of writing my English paper on the parallel of the transitions of God and Man from the beginning to the age of intellect (now?).
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