I'm writing this assuming that no one reading it would disagree with the following proposition: People in leadership positions in the political arena should be expected to always act in accordance to the Constitution, the rule of law, and to the principles for which democracy is supposed to stand, and should never use their fame and public image as an artifact to create the illusion they are behaving morally, ethically, and in a principled manner, while doing the exact opposite.
I've been reading some diaries lately which I find quite disturbing because they seem to be promulgating some sort of cult of personality when it comes to president Barack Obama.
I notice a certain type of romanticized narrative about him, where his sometimes difficult childhood, family story, youthful social justice activism, race, and ethnicity are used as some sort of shield against a reality-based analysis of his actual policies.
Here's the thing... I have no problem taking into consideration a leader's background, accomplishments, struggles, beliefs, principles, and ideals when measuring his overall performance. In fact, as we were gearing up for the 2008 presidential election, just like millions of other people, I read a couple of his books, and had been as moved as anybody else by his speech at the 2004 DNC Convention.
I went to see him speak at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco, and I even attended a one-day "Camp Obama" volunteer training session.
I did all that because I believed in the messaging of the campaign, in the words he, Barack Obama, said, and everything I was hearing pretty much aligned with my own values, my understanding of the challenges we faced after the disastrous years of the Bush Administration. I found the campaign and his words inspiring.
But I would think that none of that should negate the fact that as a voter, as a citizen, as a Democrat, it is my duty to remain vigilant when it comes to the image and rhetoric associated with a political figure, and the actual reality on the ground.
As long as they are congruent, I have no problem heaping praise and admiration upon a political leader. But once actions start diverging from the rhetoric, and from the image we've been lead to believe, then as a citizen (I would think) it is my responsibility to point out the inconsistencies--to keep it real.
I'm not going to go into in-depth explanations about all the areas where I (and others) have noticed inconsistencies, but suffice it to say, they include issues like the extra-judicial killing of American citizens, the refusal to criminally indict Wall Street crooks, the appointment of Wall Street insiders to important government positions, a record number of deportations, the signing of NDAA indefinite detentions, rapid escalation of drones strikes, the rapid militarization of police forces across the country, the brutal suppression of the Occupy Wall Street movement under his Administration's Department of Homeland Security, the illegal NSA spying, the unprecedented level of persecution of whistleblowers, etc.
From my perspective, it is not that I expected him to be a hard-core progressive; I just didn't expect him to embrace these policies. I feel that those policies (and many others) are not consistent to the image created by the campaign(s), and with his rhetoric, and with the values he seemed to espouse in his books.
Now, I don't know how many readers agree with me, but I can't be the only person, the only Democrat who attended "Camp Obama" and multiple rallies in his support, to feel like this...
Here's the thing, a president should be looked at as somebody who was voted into office by people who supported his platform, his views when it comes governance, and therefore should be expected to deliver on those expectations, and not given a pass based on other superfluous things like his life story, or what people want to believe about him, versus what he's actually doing. Because, in my view, that would be engaging in a cult of personality. And that can't never be good for democracy.
Why am I a Democrat? I'd like to think that I am a Democrat because I believe in the rule of law, in the Constitution, in the value of science and empiricism, in social justice, in the separation between Church and State, in a secular government, in clean government.
If the Party and its leaders deviate from those values, should we not point that out? If it becomes corrupt to the point that all we can say is that the other Party is much more worst as a justification for being a Democrat, are we really keeping our side of the bargain as voters, as citizens, as Democrats?
Many times I've heard the argument by some that those who point out these inconsistencies, the corruption, the manipulation, are really harming the Party because it discourages people from participating, or it gives ammunition to the other (much worst, scary) Party... What kind of argument is that?
Are there really "my-party-and-my-leader-right-or-wrong" people out there? Do they know that's an unprincipled and an immoral position?
Yes, the other Party is awful, and yes they have been relentless in their vitriol, their disrespect of this president, their outright sabotage of many of his policies and initiatives. And yes, a lot of it has to do with racial animosity (racism).
But admitting those circumstances exist, do not absolve the president from responsibility on policy decisions he is making freely... If those policies are not consistent with our expectations ad citizens, as voters, as Democrats, then I argue it is our duty to point them out. And I argue that that is the way of strengthening the Party, because at the end of the day we are it. If only the corporate lobbyists and the powerful are able to influence the Democratic party, while those who value social justice, equality under the law, and the Constitution remain silent, then the inconsistencies will not only continue to exist, but they will get much worse.
And that's why I think personality cults are dangerous and detrimental to democracy.
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