The Color of Change

President Obama has been firmly entrenched as the President of the United States now for almost eight months. Since his inaguration he has faced criticism on a bevy of different topics and issues. He has seen metaphorical darts thrown at him both from the political far left as well as the political far right. However just as he has faced more warrant-less criticism than most presidents in recent history, he has also faced more warrant-less praise than most other presidents in recent history. He has enjoyed a grace period filled with the type of social and political capital that Gerald Ford would have killed for. He has the social and political latitude to say and do things that Bill Clinton could only wish. Yet through the first eight months of his presidency there has been a pink elephant in the room. The same pink elephant that has been with the United States since its inception: Race.

The problem is much like Attorney General Eric Holder said back in February, the United States is a nation of cowards concerning race. That is not to say the nation has not worked to change the way people of different cultures and ethnicities interact with one another. That is to say there are deeply held convictions that people from different races are not honest with each other about. Because of this the race dialogue is never respectfully or legitimately addressed. The mainstream media also has a level of culpability. Since race is a social buzzword, whenever it is thrown around it is sure to generate interest. Networks find themselves giving a superficial glance at racial issues and playing up the dramatic effect of the buzzword for profit. For his part President Obama has attempted to steer clear of race, race related policy matters, or publicly acknowledging or discussing racism. The one time he did make mention he nearly squandered all of his political capital.


In today's political climate there is a heated debate of health care and health care reform. Masses of people are taking to the street to denounce President Obama, his health care plan and the large amount of government intervention. Many of the same people who are protesting now in the name of libertarian principles and fiscal conservatism were quite quiet and actually in defense of President Bush as he ran up huge deficits on defense spending, as well as spent more money on education than any president before him. President Bush also sent large amounts of money to various foreign nations in the hopes of advancing United States interest. Again these same people protesting were silent if not defensive of Mr. Bush. Some on the left are saying the only reason people could be protesting is a latent racism. An uncomfortability accepting a President who is of African descent.

Interestingly enough, this seems to be a preoccupation among white liberals. Keith Olbermann provided a special commentary on how the venom of comparing President Obama to Hitler and the massive protest are a result of unsettled racism. Former President Carter made news when he told NBC's Brian Williams that the animosity toward President Obama was "because of a belief among many white people not just from the south but around the country that an African-American is not qualified to lead this great country." This type of fodder becomes the news of the day. And again the issue of race becomes a central talking point, but it is approached with no meaningful depth or substance. What's worst is that sadly a good number of African-Americans have been so jaded by how blacks have been treated in this nation, that if President Carter's assesment is true they wouldn't be shocked, surprised or even offended.

All of this has those interested in policy issues thrown off track. Important policy matters are being ignored. President Obama has seemingly turned Afghanistan into the new Iraq and there is a demand for an Iraq-like "surge" to turn the tide in Afghanistan. Meanwhile domestically, President Obama can take solace knowing that most economic indicators suggest that the economy is rebounding.At the same time the unemployment rate is teetering dangerously close to 10%. In communities of color that number is more like 15-20%. Just as President Obama has agreed to a higher tariff to protect tire manufacturers in the U.S.; his administration has also undertaken plans to renew portions of the the much villified PATRIOT Act. This shows us that there is much room to debate the actual policy matters of the administration if we got past the question of race. We shouldn't get past it because it doesn't pervade our society, or it isn't the unremovable sin that this nation can never wash its hands of. We should get past it because otherwise we will never be able to see if as promised "Change has come to America".

Blame First Ask Questions Last

The election of Barack Obama as president of the United States seemed to usher in a dawn of new politics. People hoped that politics would change enough to the point where policy matters were discussed on their merit and how they would affect the real people of the United States and the world around us. Sadly that has not happened. We can see the failure of this new form of politics among politicians. Both major parties recite old cliches when critiquing the other. Democrats/liberals accuse those on the right of being soul-less, impossible of being passionate, and selfish evil people. Republicans/conservatives all spread the propaganda that those on the left seek to take away all individuality and make the United States one God-less monolith. This is definitely not the change I hoped for.

The United States is a nation with very serious and critical policy matters to discuss. Not least among them is the issue of its economy. Because the U.S. does not have a pure market or capitalist economy it is extremely nuanced. As one commentator on MSNBC was trying to explain the complicated matters of federal currency regulation another commentator on the network called him "wonkish". Wonkish is a term most often used to describe one who is immersed in the particulars of policy. However with the state of affairs in the United States perhaps now is the time to be wonkish. Now is the time people should be made completely aware of what is going on. Rather than do that, the left-leaning network spent very little time looking at the intricacies of economic policy and went back to reciting cliched themes of "Bush failure" and "Cheney torture"

The left-leaning MSNBC is not the only network that would rather play the blame game than seriously look at and consider the way policy will affect American people. Fox news has a history of skewing the presentation of the news to the favor of conservatives. However they drop the ball in their presentation of health care matters. When the conversation of health-care is had on one of their "Great American Panels" they act as if there isn't a significant portion of the nation that is advocating for the single-payer system. The single payer system is one where the government provides for the health care of its citizens (see With Liberty and Health Care for All Feb 4, 2009). The rhetoric used by Fox News suggest that a single payer option will financially bankrupt the nation and destory the concept of individuality in every way. However they don't take the painstaking steps the California Nurses Association took when it researched the topic and came with the economic numbers that a single payer health care option would turn out.

Unfortunately the lack of intelligent discourse or policy matters on those stations may not be new news to many people. The 24 hour news networks may not have the time nor actually care to put in the effort necessary to have a policy conversation. Even with that one would expect the Sunday morning programs to get more the heart of political affairs. Sadly this doesn't even happen there. On the long running Sunday morning program "The McLaughlin Group" the panelist discussed whether or not Barack Obama spent too much time "blaming America" and apologizing in his Cairo speech. Rather than doing that, perhaps they should have been examining the merit of his words. He was (for really the first time in modern U.S. politics) at the very least acknowledging the United States did not have clean hands when it came to Middle East affairs.

The problem with this behavior is that citizens are kept away from making informed judgments because all the people charged with informing them are failing. Politicians can not see past the special interest and next election to actually discuss policy matters. Journalist can't seem to see beyond the next sound-byte, or "gotcha quote" to explain matters. Sadly what is left is an uniformed nation who rather than discuss policy positions instead revert to inflammatory rhetoric and playing the blame game.

A Brave New World

In the summer of 2009 President Obama will make state visits to Middle East countries Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He will also make his first sub-Saharan African trip to the nation of Ghana. These trips will continue the efforts of the President to step out on the World Scene to refurbish the image of the United States. Needless to say President Obama's predecessor did him no favors in raising the nation's profile and image. It is with that burden that the current President takes the world stage. Fortunately he has well-wishers among some of the previous administration's harshest critics. However, in order to really revamp the way the United States is viewed and treated in the world the President should seek to engage in policy that supports his good spirits.

Obviously there needs to be a change in Iraqi policy. So far President Obama has said what appears to be all the right things. He has talked about drawing down the number of active combat troops on the ground in Iraq. He has also intensely laid out the strategy for shifting the nature of the work in Iraq from active combat to military training. The only bad part about that is former President Bush made the same claims. Unfortunately those ideas never took shape the way any of the American people would have wanted them to and they are understandably wary of that same talk.

If President Obama does change the face of the United States on the world scene he must also address the military's unacceptable behavior. Some mainstream media outlets have addressed this but only in the vein of discussing torture. That issue is something the current administration must address and rectify. Beyond that, the Obama administration has the daunting task of tightening up attack procedures in the Middle East. Countless numbers of civilians have been harmed or killed in United States military attacks. This was something that was prevalent in Iraq and now that the nation has supposedly turned its attention to Afghanistan it is happening there as well.

The United States can not ask to be looked to as a moral authority and continue to hurt innocent civilians. Some supporters of the attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan argue that the civilians are collateral damage and that the by and large number of victims are Taliban or insurgent fighters. This contradicts much of what those countries governments are releasing as official reports. The Afghani government claimed one attack to have killed over 140 civilians. The United States puts that number somewhere around 20 or 30. The fact remains that if President Obama is going to chart a new path for United States foreign policy he needs to repudiate any civilian death at the hands of the United States military.


The mere election of Mr. Obama as President of the United States is monumental and done much already to change the perception of the nation abroad. Sadly this will just be a passing fancy if the policy and actions of the Obama administration do not differ from that of previous administrations. President Obama has been in charge of foreign policy a very short time but some of the decisions he has made seem consistent with the failed and disrespectful foreign policy of America's past. Hopefully with trips to long neglected parts of the globe this summer, the president can chart a brave new world in American foreign policy.