A Case of Religious Freedom

Not that it makes any difference to my opinion, but the president spoke out about the Ground Zero mosque for the first time tonight. His remarks were in a speech at the annual White House Iftar dinner, honoring the beginning of Ramadan, the time of fasting for Muslims.

But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure.

For the people who think President Obama is Islamic, I'm sure this will just be additional "evidence" for their mistaken beliefs, along with the crazy idea that he was born in Kenya, is some sort of Manchurian Candidate, and is the second coming of Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler rolled into one. But then, they never let facts get in the way of their beliefs anyway.

Incidentally, President Bush began the tradition of holding Iftar dinners at the White House during his presidency.

Literacy Helps

Agree or disagree with him - you have to admit that it's nice to have a president who actually talks to the people he represents. Case in point, today's Washington Post Op-Ed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020403174.html

You may not like what he says or his ideals, but at least he's following through on one campaign promise: more transparency.

It's been a very difficult week for the new president. He's nominated several folks to key posts who have tax problems and some have "lobbyist" problems, too. With sky-high approval ratings, there was only one way to go.

So right out of the gate he's proven he isn't perfect, which everyone knew anyway. But even with these stumbles I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a while because he's already done two things:

1. Reinstated the rule of law and remembered that a key part of his job is "to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
2. Talked to me like I'm intelligent.

Chess and Checkers

I used to play chess with my older brother when I was a kid. I finally gave up because he was much, much better at thinking five or 10 moves ahead. I was pretty much limited to two or three moves ahead. In my own defense, I was young – 10 or 11 when he first taught me to play – and my brother is four years older than I. But I much preferred to play Checkers, a game that doesn’t require you to see very far ahead. My inability to look at the options on the Chess board ensured that I always lost; in many ways it meant I was never even in the game.

I’m getting that same sense as I watch President Obama play rope-a-dope with the Republicans in Congress. The current issue at hand is the stimulus bill the president wants Congress to approve in the next three weeks. Since they are in the minority in both houses of congress now, Republicans are left with one tool at their disposal to have any influence at all in the political process: the ability to filibuster and prevent a cloture vote in the Senate. As Democrats know from past experience, it’s a small tool at that.

The difference this year as in the previous eight, 12 or several dozen years is that President Obama says he wants bi-partisan support for the bill. He has asked for input from Republicans in order to get their support. They could suggest a few compromises and show that they want to work for the good of our country, to help restore our tattered and broken economy. But to do so would mean to tacitly accept that their ideology is failed. So instead, Republicans have come back to the president and told him the only way they would accept the stimulus package is if it is a Republican plan. In other words, no compromise – just do things our way.

At first this seemed completely strange to me. How could any politician think they could have influence in this circumstance against a president who is enjoying over-the-top approval ratings and after being completely routed in the last general election? It didn’t make any sense. Then I realized that the only upside for Republicans as a party is if the plan fails. If they backed a failed plan, then they cannot claim the high road; but if they stood in vehement opposition to a failed plan, well, they were the visionaries who saw the disaster that lay ahead. It’s in their best interest to cling to partisanship. It doesn’t matter that our country is going to hell in a hand basket economically, if they can find an upside politically, they’ll use it.

This is not to say the Republican Party is any worse than the Democratic Party when it comes to partisanship. I’m sure Democrats would be doing something similar if the shoe were on the other foot. I just had a hope that we could put it all away, at least for a week or two, in the best interest of our country. Sadly this isn’t the case.

Certainly President Obama is aware of this. He went to Capital Hill today and did something highly unusual for a new president: he met with the entire House Republican Caucus and asked them to come to the table. It was a pretty gutsy move and it remains to be seen whether any in the minority party will cross the aisle when it’s time for the final vote. Unfortunately they seem to be playing from the Karl Rove playbook and trying to win today’s news cycle instead of looking at the big picture.

Republicans might try to present a better plan ideologically. A few have said that we need more tax breaks for large corporations. Sure, it’s more of the same George W. Bush policies that embroiled us in our current mess, but at least that’s consistent. But to be honest, there’s no upside for Republicans to present an alternative either.

If I were a Republican congressman or senator, I’d look beyond today – or even next week or next month. I’d be careful to avoid any appearance of partisanship, if at all possible. Because when it’s all said and done, the American people won’t blame the president if there is a successful filibuster in the Senate and the stimulus bill doesn’t move forward. The people will blame the obstructionists. Right now, anything that stands in the way of getting our economy back on track is considered obstructionist.

President Obama is playing chess and Republicans are playing checkers.

The Exclusive White Male Club Is Over

If you're a white man, you probably don't think about it a whole lot, but the American presidency has always been an exclusive club to which only you could belong. Until now. From here on out, everything is different.

Now that Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States, barriers have been shattered. It won't be more than two hundred years to shatter the next barrier. In fact, I don't think it will be 20 years before we see a female president.

When you break down walls, it becomes so much easier to break them down the next time. It will be much easier to fight the next fight and change perceptions again about what it means to be the leader of this nation. Obama said it best in his acceptance speech last night. "If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?" More change than we can imagine - and many I look forward to witnessing.