It's clear that the country is at a critical crossroads. Obama is inheriting a host of problems that no individual is capable of solving by himself. With a tattered economy, two wars, a widening class divide, and a political system that, despite the symbolism of last night's victory, is still pretty much in a state of total disarray.
Driving my friend's car (and thus deprived of my CD's), I wound up tuning in to talk radio this morning. I don't care much for talk radio. I think the format is a poor one for the dissemination of information. Without the assistance of visuals like a newspaper, website or TV, radio shows are extra dependent on outlandish personalities to hold audiences. For the first time in years, however, I found myself interested in the flow of conversation, as conservative hosts, forced to deal with the new reality, and with a harsh dose of sobriety, discussed the issues that make conservatism an ideology that can have intellectual appeal. No rants about terrorists, or race baiting, or god-guns-gays, but a thoughtful discussion on what makes some thinking people choose conservatism.
I've heard many of these arguments and viewpoints expressed on message boards (though rarely from the Free Republic/Redstate crowd - more often on common boards and communities), and from some of the people I've come across while phone banking/canvassing various campaigns, but the conservative punditocracy has been disconnected from the more thoughtful arguments for conservatism for quite some time.
I hope what I heard today (and have seen, little by little, from conservative writers over the past month) is indeed a turning of a new leaf. As we embark on an era that requires new ideas on how to solve problems, we need conservative intellectuals at the table. To me, the bipartisanship we need is a willingness to hear opposing views on what's best for our country, not capitulation to greedy, egomaniacal congress critters only looking out for their wealthy friends, and by extension, themselves. The pundits have a great responsibility in all this, since the agenda they push is what conservative constituencies, by and large, end up expressing to their representatives (and at the polls) as their priorities.
If the priorities they espouse stay focused on individual liberty, economic growth, and small government, then we may yet have the national discussion that we'll need to tackle these problems together. I don't agree entirely (or perhaps, even remotely) with many of the aspects inherent in those systems, but I see the inclusion of those viewpoints as critical to viable policy implementation.
On the other hand, if the conservative punditocracy falls back on illegal immigration, homosexuality, and religion, or supposed moral values, then overcoming our problems will be that much more difficult.
This of course goes both ways. Many on the left feel the need to take vengeance on those who have harmed this country. I sympathize to the extent that there needs to be a deterrence to future would-be robber barons from engaging in the kind of behavior that has no regard for the people affected by their actions. But with the challenges we're facing right now, we need to get past punitive action, and concentrate on correcting the flaws in our political system that led to the breakdown of checks and balances of power, whether it be oversight of the Executive Branch, the financial industry, or the military industrial complex.
Make no mistake, I am completely in favor of seeing Obama and the Democratic Congress use any and all tools and leverage at their disposal to implement the most critical aspects of a progressive agenda. However, I want to see these changes have longevity, and as Republicans have proven beyond any reasonable doubt, constant use of brute parliamentary tactics makes for a temporary majority.
My friend had the old Queen Latifah anthem U.N.I.T.Y. on his mind last night as we witnessed (and took part in) the uniting of people from so many varying backgrounds, races, classes, ages, locations, etc. who came together to make this happen. But we're only half way there. The wall between red state and blue state has begun to crumble, but there are many more divides that prevent us from coming together as Americans to create the kind of change we want and need. We can either find ways to sharpen those divides through hubris, and justify it with the mandate of the righteous, or we can keep working, just as we have for the past several months/years to communicate, educate, and understand each other.
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