I don’t know about you, but these explosive town hall meetings regarding President Obama’s healthcare initiative are pretty scary events. It seems like people are coming to these events ready to do battle, sort of like if Yankees and Mets fans were attending the same party. I don’t think there is any hope for intelligent discourse in these matters because everyone is going in with some kind of anger for the other side.
I was watching one such meeting the other night with Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) playing referee to two of his constituents. I thought Specter did a decent job, but maybe it would have been better for him to put on a black and white stripped jersey and stand in the middle of a ring with these two guys. He could get Nancy Pelosi to walk around holding big numbers to signify what round they were in (I’m sure old Nancy would do it for the good of the country and maybe a few complimentary visits to get some Botox treatments). I think this might make for a more enjoyable evening for all.
Many people who like Obama, and I am one of them, say that this is just an attempt to smear this president. All these people are so angry that Obama won that now they are venting in these meetings like lunatics or maybe stockbrokers ordering hotdogs out on Wall Street. Perhaps fringe lunatics like Barney the Dinosaur and Elmo from Sesame Street are stoking the fires of hate (I have always had my suspicions about that Barney character), or it could be a plot from Al Qaeda to disrupt America in order for us to implode with anger and hatred.
I don’t know if I buy that. I think in general people do not know how to behave in public. Have you ever seen people in McDonald’s or Wendy’s when there is a long line? The eye-rolling and the wise comments are worse than any segment of The Factor with good old Bill O’Reilly. Similar behavior can be found in the bank, the mall, and any public swimming pool. In general I think Americans are not very good in public, which signifies a problem since we are the “public” whom guys like Obama, Pelosi, and company serve.
I was wondering if we could have some kind of rules for these town hall affairs, a sort of etiquette that would make clear how to behave. It could be distributed as a list prior to entrance to the meetings, preferably by Dick Cheney wearing his hunting gear and sporting a rifle over his shoulder.
The list should include the following:
1. When someone else is talking, yell louder than that person in order to be heard.
2. When stepping up to the microphone, make sure your gloves are laced and your mouthpiece is securely between your teeth.
3. Listening to the other side is never an option.
4. Whenever the word “healthcare” is used, boo and hiss loudly.
5. Bring posters of Obama dressed as the Grinch who stole Medicare.
6. Let your Congressman or woman know you like them as much as the guy in the public pool who stays in there for four hours and then leaves without using the restroom.
7. Old folks should rattle their canes and walkers as loudly as possible when the politician begins speaking.
8. Finally, everyone should dress as the cast of M*A*S*H, set up a still, and drink martinis as they listen to their fearless leaders. Throwing darts at the likeness of Obama is an option after the third round.
Well, I don’t know if any rules or etiquette will help these folks. They are venting in a way that seems to signify nothing and everything. Should we put a great deal of emphasis on this or let it simmer down and die out like a fire started by Sarah Palin in the Alaskan wilderness?
One thing is for certain: these town hall meetings have given lots of people some fifteen seconds of infamy. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but I think the road to healthcare reform is going to be about as easy to follow as the Yellow Brick Road. There will be some lions and tigers and bears, oh my yes, and a witch or two along the way to spoil the party, but in the end we just might reach that Emerald City of Healthcare Reform. Mr. Obama may turn out to be a Wizard of MD, or maybe a little dog will pull down the curtain and reveal him to be just a guy like the rest of us, treading water and hoping not to get sick.
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Obama's Beer Summit: Where Everybody Knows Your Game
Benjamin Franklin once said that beer is proof that God loves us. If we think about the recent White House meeting between President Obama, Harvard Prof. Henry Gates, and Cambridge police officer Sgt. James Crowley, it seems clear enough that Obama thinks beer is a good drink to have a conversation over, but I wonder what message something like this sends to everybody and if it is a positive one.
We know that beer is the fuel of sports here in the United States, mostly because the beverage companies sponsor all sorts of sporting events. If you look around at the sights in any major league ballpark, chances are you’re going to see a sign advertising beer. Beer is ubiquitous at games in all sports, as a beverage that is quaffed with snacks while watching the event, as well as an advertised product.
While I have nothing against old Ben Franklin, or beer for that matter, I wonder if everybody in the world feels the same way. Certain religions call for their members to abstain from alcohol; many other people must refrain from drinking for health reasons. Besides those considerations, the biggest segment of the population that concerns me are the young people who are not yet allowed to legally drink. Did they really need a presidential meeting to occur over beer, solidifying an already subliminal imagery of something that is cool?
I think Obama meant well when he set-up this meeting, but let’s make no mistake that there was a great deal of calculation here. How does a man who seems aloof and above the common folk send a message that he is just one of us? Well, he doesn’t go up to Cambridge and have a snifter of cognac in one of the university lounges, that’s for sure. Gates and Crowley were all business in their suits and ties, but Obama rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a few snacks from the bowl on the table, and presto-change-o he becomes a man of the people, drinking a beer after work with the guys like the rest of us working stiffs.
If you study the picture that was in the newspaper carefully, the one where the three men (and Vice President Joe Biden who drank a non-alcoholic beer) clink their glasses, it reminded me of that old great show Cheers. Everybody definitely knows their names, and they are just hanging out, shooting the breeze on a warm summer’s evening, looking to all the world like best buds. Of course, there is the thing that is festering beneath all this that started the mess in the first place: America’s view of race and the perception that racism is practiced by some members of police forces in our country.
Sgt. Crowley arrested Prof. Gates after getting a call about a break-in at the professor’s home. One would think that as soon as Prof. Gates provided his ID to the officer that the story would have been over, but the officer ended up arresting Gates for disorderly conduct. People all over the world jumped on this story like John Wayne onto a speeding horse, mostly because of so many past events involving police and people of color. This incident, while lacking the inflammatory aspects of a Rodney King or an Amaduo Diallo situation, clicked in the collective consciousness of those who wonder if this is just another case of a white cop abusing power with an innocent black citizen.
Still, we have dead cops whose families will tell you differently, or a paralyzed cop like NYPD’s Steven McDonald whose life was forever altered by a black perpetrator. Yes, we have stark images on both sides, but seemingly no answers to the burning questions, with certainly none being provided after the “beer summit” ended.
General Colin Powell made an interesting comment on this case. Powell, a native New Yorker who no doubt had plenty of opportunities to observe the NYPD in action, said that his mother told him that you always have to listen to a police officer. This reminded me of exactly what my father, a retired NYPD cop, told me when I was a teenager. “No matter what,” he said, “you always obey the police officer.” It seems to me that this was good advice and good parenting in both cases.
Now, back to the beer itself. Did it send a wrong message to America’s youth? Should it have been over cups of expensive coffee, or perhaps soda, or even bottled water? Since each of those drinks also have detractors, I guess probably not. The truth is though that we have the old saying “in vino veritas” that sort of makes me wonder if Obama was onto something here. He wanted to loosen these guys up a little bit, get them to be open to the other’s feelings, and relax while all those cameras on the South Lawn were poked in their direction.
This “beer summit” is now history, and whatever it means in the grand scheme of things may not be decided for many years, but it reminded me of another president who allowed alcohol at meetings in the White House. His name was Andrew Jackson and apparently guests got so rowdy and drunk on his watch that major damage was caused, things were thrown out windows, and there were wild parties late into the night. Of course, that would be less like Cheers and more like Animal House, with “double secret probation” always being a possibility. Maybe next time, Mr. President, you should tap a keg.
We know that beer is the fuel of sports here in the United States, mostly because the beverage companies sponsor all sorts of sporting events. If you look around at the sights in any major league ballpark, chances are you’re going to see a sign advertising beer. Beer is ubiquitous at games in all sports, as a beverage that is quaffed with snacks while watching the event, as well as an advertised product.
While I have nothing against old Ben Franklin, or beer for that matter, I wonder if everybody in the world feels the same way. Certain religions call for their members to abstain from alcohol; many other people must refrain from drinking for health reasons. Besides those considerations, the biggest segment of the population that concerns me are the young people who are not yet allowed to legally drink. Did they really need a presidential meeting to occur over beer, solidifying an already subliminal imagery of something that is cool?
I think Obama meant well when he set-up this meeting, but let’s make no mistake that there was a great deal of calculation here. How does a man who seems aloof and above the common folk send a message that he is just one of us? Well, he doesn’t go up to Cambridge and have a snifter of cognac in one of the university lounges, that’s for sure. Gates and Crowley were all business in their suits and ties, but Obama rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a few snacks from the bowl on the table, and presto-change-o he becomes a man of the people, drinking a beer after work with the guys like the rest of us working stiffs.
If you study the picture that was in the newspaper carefully, the one where the three men (and Vice President Joe Biden who drank a non-alcoholic beer) clink their glasses, it reminded me of that old great show Cheers. Everybody definitely knows their names, and they are just hanging out, shooting the breeze on a warm summer’s evening, looking to all the world like best buds. Of course, there is the thing that is festering beneath all this that started the mess in the first place: America’s view of race and the perception that racism is practiced by some members of police forces in our country.
Sgt. Crowley arrested Prof. Gates after getting a call about a break-in at the professor’s home. One would think that as soon as Prof. Gates provided his ID to the officer that the story would have been over, but the officer ended up arresting Gates for disorderly conduct. People all over the world jumped on this story like John Wayne onto a speeding horse, mostly because of so many past events involving police and people of color. This incident, while lacking the inflammatory aspects of a Rodney King or an Amaduo Diallo situation, clicked in the collective consciousness of those who wonder if this is just another case of a white cop abusing power with an innocent black citizen.
Still, we have dead cops whose families will tell you differently, or a paralyzed cop like NYPD’s Steven McDonald whose life was forever altered by a black perpetrator. Yes, we have stark images on both sides, but seemingly no answers to the burning questions, with certainly none being provided after the “beer summit” ended.
General Colin Powell made an interesting comment on this case. Powell, a native New Yorker who no doubt had plenty of opportunities to observe the NYPD in action, said that his mother told him that you always have to listen to a police officer. This reminded me of exactly what my father, a retired NYPD cop, told me when I was a teenager. “No matter what,” he said, “you always obey the police officer.” It seems to me that this was good advice and good parenting in both cases.
Now, back to the beer itself. Did it send a wrong message to America’s youth? Should it have been over cups of expensive coffee, or perhaps soda, or even bottled water? Since each of those drinks also have detractors, I guess probably not. The truth is though that we have the old saying “in vino veritas” that sort of makes me wonder if Obama was onto something here. He wanted to loosen these guys up a little bit, get them to be open to the other’s feelings, and relax while all those cameras on the South Lawn were poked in their direction.
This “beer summit” is now history, and whatever it means in the grand scheme of things may not be decided for many years, but it reminded me of another president who allowed alcohol at meetings in the White House. His name was Andrew Jackson and apparently guests got so rowdy and drunk on his watch that major damage was caused, things were thrown out windows, and there were wild parties late into the night. Of course, that would be less like Cheers and more like Animal House, with “double secret probation” always being a possibility. Maybe next time, Mr. President, you should tap a keg.
Monday, July 13, 2009
OBAMA AND THE AUDACITY OF POPE
If things had gone differently when Pope John Paul II died, President Obama could have been meeting with a black pope. Imagine the significance of that moment: the first black American president meeting the first black Pope. Well, the fact is that Benedict was chosen over candidates of color the last time around, so we are left with this meeting between the leader of the Free World and the leader of the world’s Catholics. What good comes from such a meeting as this?
It seems like a photo opportunity for the most part, at least at first glance. The picture I saw in my local paper here in New York featured a very conservatively dressed Michelle Obama, her head covered by a black veil, standing alongside the Pope as he exchanged papers with her conservatively dressed husband. It seemed such a reverential moment, and the respect and dignity the Obamas felt for the Pontiff were quite obvious.
We get the official version of things here. Yes, they spoke about abortion, stem cell research, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is as we should expect it to be: two world leaders talking about important matters of the day but, of course, there is and has to be much more to this story.
What I would like to have heard is what was really said behind closed doors, away from the press and the cameras and Michelle, her mother, and the children. This would have been the conversation I would like to have heard.
As President of the United States, I am sure Mr. Obama, representing millions of American Catholics (including Senator Ted Kennedy, from whom he brought a personal letter for the Pope), would have talked with the Pope about the reality of American life in regards to many things. Besides big topics like abortion and stem cell research, there are many other issues pressing for Americans today.
How can our children attend Catholic schools which continue to be too expensive for average people? What can be done about a shortage of priests and other religious? Would you at least consider thinking about an option to allow priests to marry after taking their vows? Do you understand the importance of young people using condoms, not as a means of birth control, but to avoid diseases that will kill them?
The Pope would have plenty of things to talk about as well. He could have asked Mr. Obama to consider ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That makes sense, but what about the wars happening right here at home? Can we condemn Iranians for killing a female protester in the streets without thinking about protesters who died right here in America at Kent State many years ago? What about our continued war on drugs? Is anything substantial being done to stop the flow of drugs in our streets?
What about the brutal attack on our children's sensibilities by all media? Sitting through an evening of American television, would the Pope not be disgusted by the ads about male sexual enhancement drugs, feminine hygiene products, and the general disdain for decency in shows depicting premarital sex and violence as regular and normal ways of life?
Yes, there must have been much to discuss on the table for these two men, but thirty minutes does not allow for much discussion beyond the pleasantries of introduction and pomp and circumstance. How much real discourse could have taken place? We know that gifts were exchanged, and that the Pope also gave Obama a lengthy printed treatise on the Vatican’s stance regarding stem cell research. This is a good start, but so much more is needed.
When these two men had a chance to sit down, one-on-one, with no cameras and no else present, what was exchanged? Obama is in dire need of direction when it comes to spirituality, and the Pope is in dire need of a lesson on the real world out there.
Hopefully, the Pope blessed Mr. Obama and will continue to pray for him as he leads this nation and the world in matters of significance regarding urgent economic, social, and political events. For his part, Mr. Obama should have offered the promise of continued and meaningful dialogue. Too often, it seems the President (and this is true for most administrations in my memory) of our country does not appreciate the importance of the man who is in charge at the Vatican.
Two remarkable men met in Rome yesterday. We can only hope that their meeting is the start of something better and not just a photo opportunity. The lives of millions, perhaps even billions, of people hang in the balance. In an increasingly violent and disturbing world, their leadership can make a difference; their joint cooperation may just be the thing we need to rise to a better level of understanding and affect real change in matters that are truly life and death issues.
It seems like a photo opportunity for the most part, at least at first glance. The picture I saw in my local paper here in New York featured a very conservatively dressed Michelle Obama, her head covered by a black veil, standing alongside the Pope as he exchanged papers with her conservatively dressed husband. It seemed such a reverential moment, and the respect and dignity the Obamas felt for the Pontiff were quite obvious.
We get the official version of things here. Yes, they spoke about abortion, stem cell research, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is as we should expect it to be: two world leaders talking about important matters of the day but, of course, there is and has to be much more to this story.
What I would like to have heard is what was really said behind closed doors, away from the press and the cameras and Michelle, her mother, and the children. This would have been the conversation I would like to have heard.
As President of the United States, I am sure Mr. Obama, representing millions of American Catholics (including Senator Ted Kennedy, from whom he brought a personal letter for the Pope), would have talked with the Pope about the reality of American life in regards to many things. Besides big topics like abortion and stem cell research, there are many other issues pressing for Americans today.
How can our children attend Catholic schools which continue to be too expensive for average people? What can be done about a shortage of priests and other religious? Would you at least consider thinking about an option to allow priests to marry after taking their vows? Do you understand the importance of young people using condoms, not as a means of birth control, but to avoid diseases that will kill them?
The Pope would have plenty of things to talk about as well. He could have asked Mr. Obama to consider ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That makes sense, but what about the wars happening right here at home? Can we condemn Iranians for killing a female protester in the streets without thinking about protesters who died right here in America at Kent State many years ago? What about our continued war on drugs? Is anything substantial being done to stop the flow of drugs in our streets?
What about the brutal attack on our children's sensibilities by all media? Sitting through an evening of American television, would the Pope not be disgusted by the ads about male sexual enhancement drugs, feminine hygiene products, and the general disdain for decency in shows depicting premarital sex and violence as regular and normal ways of life?
Yes, there must have been much to discuss on the table for these two men, but thirty minutes does not allow for much discussion beyond the pleasantries of introduction and pomp and circumstance. How much real discourse could have taken place? We know that gifts were exchanged, and that the Pope also gave Obama a lengthy printed treatise on the Vatican’s stance regarding stem cell research. This is a good start, but so much more is needed.
When these two men had a chance to sit down, one-on-one, with no cameras and no else present, what was exchanged? Obama is in dire need of direction when it comes to spirituality, and the Pope is in dire need of a lesson on the real world out there.
Hopefully, the Pope blessed Mr. Obama and will continue to pray for him as he leads this nation and the world in matters of significance regarding urgent economic, social, and political events. For his part, Mr. Obama should have offered the promise of continued and meaningful dialogue. Too often, it seems the President (and this is true for most administrations in my memory) of our country does not appreciate the importance of the man who is in charge at the Vatican.
Two remarkable men met in Rome yesterday. We can only hope that their meeting is the start of something better and not just a photo opportunity. The lives of millions, perhaps even billions, of people hang in the balance. In an increasingly violent and disturbing world, their leadership can make a difference; their joint cooperation may just be the thing we need to rise to a better level of understanding and affect real change in matters that are truly life and death issues.
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