{"id":1075,"date":"2013-07-31T06:22:46","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T10:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2013-07-30T17:17:12","modified_gmt":"2013-07-30T21:17:12","slug":"how-washington-changed-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/how-washington-changed-obama\/","title":{"rendered":"How Washington Changed Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Washington<\/a>

Wash\u00ading\u00adton has changed the Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adt\u2019s hair col\u00ador, as it did his pre\u00adde\u00adces\u00adsors\u2019. But the changes it has made in him run deep\u00ader. [Cred\u00adit: Post Chronicle]<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n

\u201c<\/span>So eight years ago, I came here to deliv\u00ader the com\u00admence\u00adment address for the class of 2005. Things were a lit\u00adtle dif\u00adfer\u00adent back then. For exam\u00adple, I had no gray hair. Or a motor\u00adcade. Didn\u2019t even have a prompter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma, <\/em>Knox Col\u00adlege, Gales\u00adburg (IL<\/span>), <\/em>July 24, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

Many things have changed in the eight years that elapsed between Pres\u00adi\u00addent Obama\u2019s two Gales\u00adburg address\u00ades. But per\u00adhaps none of those things has changed as pro\u00adfound\u00adly as he.<\/p>\n

In 2005, he was a new\u00adly-elect\u00aded Sen\u00ada\u00adtor, 99th in senior\u00adi\u00adty, one of Washington\u2019s ris\u00ading stars, but with\u00adout ret\u00adinue, teleprompter or fleet of 747s. Today he is the nation\u2019s most pow\u00ader\u00adful per\u00adson. You wouldn\u2019t know that to lis\u00adten to him.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Wash\u00ading\u00adton,\u201d he said dur\u00ading the speech, \u201chas made things worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The line drew applause from his sup\u00adport\u00adive audi\u00adence, but it is hard to under\u00adstand why. Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma is<\/strong><\/em> Wash\u00ading\u00adton. Lit\u00adtle hap\u00adpens except on his ini\u00adtia\u00adtive; vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly noth\u00ading hap\u00adpens with\u00adout his approval. If Wash\u00ading\u00adton is indeed mak\u00ading things worse, then he must sure\u00adly share in the blame.<\/p>\n

The Pres\u00adi\u00addent sees things dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly. He used the word \u201cWash\u00ading\u00adton\u201d 11 times in last week\u2019s speech, most often as a pejo\u00adra\u00adtive, as though it were some alien, malev\u00ado\u00adlent force to which he had no attach\u00adment and over which he had no control.<\/p>\n

Rather than the seat of the fed\u00ader\u00adal gov\u00adern\u00adment whose pow\u00ader he has enlarged, the Pres\u00adi\u00addent intends the word as a syn\u00adonym for his polit\u00adi\u00adcal oppo\u00adnents. And there is noth\u00ading good about his opponents.<\/p>\n

They engage in an \u201cend\u00adless parade of dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions and polit\u00adi\u00adcal pos\u00adtur\u00adings and pho\u00adny scan\u00addals.\u201d He doesn\u2019t \u201calways under\u00adstand exact\u00adly what their log\u00adic is here, why they think giv\u00ading insur\u00adance to folks who don\u2019t have it and mak\u00ading folks with insur\u00adance a lit\u00adtle more secure, why they think that\u2019s a bad thing,\u201d though most Amer\u00adi\u00adcans<\/a> don\u2019t get the log\u00adic of the President\u2019s health care law and think it\u2019s a bad thing. Those same oppo\u00adnents, with whom the Pres\u00adi\u00addent refus\u00ades to nego\u00adti\u00adate<\/a>,<\/span> can\u2019t bring them\u00adselves to \u201cset aside short-term pol\u00adi\u00adtics and work with me to find com\u00admon ground.\u201d They \u201cman\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adture\u201d crises. They \u201cdis\u00admiss every idea I put for\u00adward either because they\u2019re play\u00ading to their most stri\u00addent sup\u00adport\u00aders, or in some cas\u00ades because, sin\u00adcere\u00adly, [they believe that] inequal\u00adi\u00adty is both inevitable and just.\u201d So they\u2019re either polit\u00adi\u00adcal grand\u00adstanders or they \u201csin\u00adcere\u00adly\u201d want to shred the Dec\u00adla\u00adra\u00adtion of Inde\u00adpen\u00addence and rein\u00adstate monar\u00adchy. Take your pick.<\/p>\n

The 2013 ver\u00adsion of Barack Oba\u00adma seems obsessed with his oppo\u00adnents, con\u00advinced that only he has the answers and that those who dis\u00adagree are bring\u00ading the nation to ruin. There is lit\u00adtle uplift\u00ading in this long (it runs to near\u00adly 8,000 words and took more than an hour to deliv\u00ader) and for\u00adget\u00adtable speech. But for the coda in which he quotes Carl Sand\u00adberg describ\u00ading America\u2019s future as an \u201cocean of tomor\u00adrows, a sky of tomor\u00adrows,\u201d there is almost noth\u00ading to cheer the spirit.<\/p>\n

How dif\u00adfer\u00adent the 2005 ver\u00adsion<\/a>.  That speech, though not near\u00adly half as long, was meant to inspire. Chal\u00adleng\u00ading Knox Col\u00adlege grad\u00adu\u00adates to find their place in his\u00adto\u00adry, the fresh\u00adman Sen\u00ada\u00adtor described Amer\u00adi\u00adca as \u201ca place where des\u00adtiny was not a des\u00adti\u00adna\u00adtion, but a jour\u00adney to be shared and shaped.\u201d  The attrac\u00adtion of that jour\u00adney, that des\u00adtiny lured peo\u00adple from \u201cacross the oceans and the ages, [who] set\u00adtled in Boston and Charleston, Chica\u00adgo and St. Louis, Kala\u00adma\u00adzoo and Gales\u00adburg, to try and build their own Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Dream.\u201d  Togeth\u00ader they made Amer\u00adi\u00adca \u201ca land where the ques\u00adtion of our place in his\u00adto\u00adry is not answered for us, but by us.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, it also includ\u00aded one jab at Wash\u00ading\u00adton \u2013 a scathing ref\u00ader\u00adence to then Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush\u2019s con\u00adcept of an \u201cown\u00ader\u00adship soci\u00adety.\u201d It also reflect\u00aded Obama\u2019s most endur\u00ading habit of mind: the unshak\u00adable belief that those who dis\u00adagree with what he wants to do must pre\u00adfer to \u201cdo noth\u00ading.\u201d Or, more pre\u00adcise\u00adly, those who dis\u00adagree with what he wants gov\u00adern\u00adment to do must pre\u00adfer to \u201cdo noth\u00ading.\u201d His inabil\u00adi\u00adty to dis\u00adtin\u00adguish between prin\u00adci\u00adpled dis\u00adagree\u00adment and mind\u00adless obstruc\u00adtion is cod\u00aded in his DNA<\/span>.<\/p>\n

But it was oth\u00ader\u00adwise a speech long on ideals and short on ran\u00adcor, a speech that paint\u00aded Amer\u00adi\u00adca as a diverse nation of shared inter\u00adests, rather than one riv\u00aden by fac\u00adtions.  It was, in short, the sort of speech that the Pres\u00adi\u00addent late\u00adly seems inca\u00adpable of delivering.<\/p>\n

What hap\u00adpened?<\/p>\n

Wash\u00ading\u00adton hap\u00adpened. It is no place for frag\u00adile egos. Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush endured not only crit\u00adi\u00adcism of his poli\u00adcies and assaults on his char\u00adac\u00adter; he became an object of scorn. Celebri\u00adties whose IQs don\u2019t crack triple dig\u00adits snick\u00adered at his alleged stu\u00adpid\u00adi\u00adty. Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma has escaped such ridicule. His most stri\u00addent crit\u00adics are more like\u00adly to think him a social\u00adist than a fool. But the attacks on his poli\u00adcies have wound\u00aded him. He no longer even tries to con\u00adceal his con\u00adtempt for those with whom he disagrees.<\/p>\n

Then there is the larg\u00ader world \u2013 the world beyond domes\u00adtic pol\u00adi\u00adtics. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent entered that stage as a star. He was nom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded for the Nobel Peace Prize <\/a>just weeks after tak\u00ading office and unan\u00adi\u00admous\u00adly award\u00aded it bare\u00adly 8 months into his term.  Since then, the world has proven an unkind and dis\u00adagree\u00adable place. Europe ignores him, Egypt rebuffs him, Rus\u00adsia taunts him, Syr\u00adia defies him, North Korea scorns him, Iran detests him. A 2011 Zog\u00adby poll found him less pop\u00adu\u00adlar in the Arab world than Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush<\/a>.  And Bush is none too pop\u00adu\u00adlar there. The Los Ange\u00adles Times<\/a> led its sto\u00adry on the recent tur\u00admoil in Egypt that led to a mil\u00adi\u00adtary coup:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>As rival camps of Egyp\u00adtians protest for and against the top\u00adpling of Pres\u00adi\u00addent Mohamed Mor\u00adsi, there is a rare point of agree\u00adment: Amer\u00adi\u00adca is to blame.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They hate us even more than they hate each other.<\/p>\n

For Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma, who thought that he would change the world\u2019s per\u00adcep\u00adtion of Amer\u00adi\u00adca, espe\u00adcial\u00adly among its 1.6 bil\u00adlion Mus\u00adlims<\/a>,<\/span> this must be deeply dis\u00adil\u00adlu\u00adsion\u00ading. He set out to remake the world<\/a>.  It appears to have remade him.<\/p>\n

Final\u00adly, there is us. Amer\u00adi\u00adcans are noto\u00adri\u00adous\u00adly hard on our pub\u00adlic fig\u00adures, whether they acquire fame through sports, enter\u00adtain\u00adment or pol\u00adi\u00adtics. We invest them with our hope and adu\u00adla\u00adtion, then delight in their down\u00adfall (see Rodriguez, Alex). We are espe\u00adcial\u00adly hard on the peo\u00adple we elect. Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial approval rat\u00adings have become more volatile than stock mar\u00adket index\u00ades; Con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal approval rat\u00adings have sunk to bathy\u00adspher\u00adic lev\u00adels. We are increas\u00ading\u00adly frac\u00adtious. The right spends as much time attack\u00ading Repub\u00adli\u00adcan lead\u00aders it does the Pres\u00adi\u00addent, fear\u00ading that the two sides might one day find agree\u00adment on some\u00adthing of con\u00adse\u00adquence. On the left, earnest efforts to craft a tax reform bill by the Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic Chair\u00adman of the Sen\u00adate Finance Com\u00admit\u00adtee and the Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Chair\u00adman of the House Ways and Means Com\u00admit\u00adtee are knee-capped by Sen\u00adate Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic lead\u00aders<\/a>,<\/span> who fear the wrath of a restive base that abhors compromise.<\/p>\n

Wash\u00ading\u00adton too often brings out our worst traits and those of our lead\u00aders. But it remains an endur\u00ading sym\u00adbol of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan uni\u00adty and ideals, the seat of a pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly-elect\u00aded gov\u00adern\u00adment that works best when it respects its lim\u00adits as it strives to ful\u00adfill its pur\u00adpose. That Wash\u00ading\u00adton has been lit\u00adtle in evi\u00addence in recent times. It will recov\u00ader soon enough. It always has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c<\/span>So eight years ago, I came here to deliv\u00ader the com\u00admence\u00adment address for the class of 2005. Things were a lit\u00adtle dif\u00adfer\u00adent back then. For exam\u00adple, I had no gray hair. Or a motor\u00adcade. Didn\u2019t even have a prompter.\u201d Pres\u00adi\u00addent \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"nfd_image_url":"","nfd_onboarding_generated":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,393,343,16,124,206,19],"tags":[424,1195,437,411,436,428,439,47,1188,438,440,435,1198,433,434],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-egypt","category-government-power","category-health-care","category-obamacare","category-partisanship","category-politics","tag-economy-2","tag-egypt","tag-galesburg","tag-health-care-2","tag-knox-college","tag-middle-class","tag-nobel-peace-prize","tag-obama","tag-obamacare","tag-president-bush","tag-russia","tag-scandal","tag-syria","tag-teleprompter","tag-washington"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t