There are a number of diaries today, with thousands of comments, on the topic of what IMHO boils down to "Who Trusts Obama? And How Much."
I'd like to take the time to consider a few quotes or proverbs that might shed light, rather than the currently so prevalent smoke and fire (flame), on these recent diaries. I'll start with two biblically based ones.
Praise To the Lord, AND Pass the Ammunition.
Trust in Allah, BUT Tie Your Camel to the Post.
Two aphorisms, centuries and cultures apart, that say the same thing. You can have trust in a Higher Power, but it is still incumbent upon, YOU, the individual, to take the actions that need to be taken. Trust the Lord, but don't stop shooting. Trust Allah, but don't your camel to wander loose while assuming that Allah will keep him safe for you -- just to make sure, tie that camel to the post.
What if we rephrased these maxims to say:
Trust in Obama, But Keep Yourself Well-Informed and Hold His Toes to the Fire In a Sane and Respectful Way if You Think He is Not Doing What He Should
More to follow. (Note: I tried to publish this yesterday, but it remained in my "Diary Draft" box as a draft. If this is somehow wrong or dumb, and I am double-pubbing it, I apologize in advance.)
Obama has asked us to do this (whether or not he meant it, only time will tell).
We can do it in a respectful way (towards him, and towards each other).
We can attempt to factor in a modicum of patience (the timeframe of which will differ from person to person).
We can factor in the historical fact that sometimes, during the campaign, many (myself included) would moan:
"Oh No! How could he do that?!! What a stupid mistake/misread of the situation/failure to fight back/and so on"
Then, a few days or a week later, would be forced to admit, "Well, his handling of that was better than what I thought he should do."
(Compliance with Transparency in Diarying Act: I reiterate that I am not a Democrat but an Independent, that Obama was not my first choice, but that once he became the candidate, I supported him fully with money, GOTV, etc, as I became increasingly impressed with his political savvy.)
(Another Caveat: Making good POLITICAL decisions is NOT the same as making good ETHICAL decisions.
And
I am very concerned about his responses to various wiretapping and torture and economic (Clintonomic?) issues, as I was with his FISA stance.)
However, as I've said above, I plan to:
Trust in Obama, But Keep Myself Well-Informed and Hold His Toes to the Fire In a Sane and Respectful Way if I (and others whom I respect) Think He is Not Doing What He Should
This is not the either/or thinking that we've been seeing a lot of lately (Obamabot OR Total Trolldom). Instead, it allows us to change
"either A or B"
into
"both A and B, with the ratio between them -- trust and toe-firing -- that seems appropriate to the situation."
If religious people are, as the maxims above state, willing to do this with "The Lord" and "Allah" -- trust in them but also take actions on and of our own, in our own support...
Can't we do the same with our president?
Or, to (mis)quote Sen. Carl Shurz -- since Obama is the first president in a long time that I can call "my" or "our" president without grimacing:
Our president, right or wrong. When right, we support him. When wrong, WE MAKE HIM RIGHT.
(Or, in the case of a president who cannot be made right while remaining in office, we do our darndest to get him impeached).
Falme away.