In a brief post yesterday, written as I was watching the memorial event for the Arizona victims, I noted my irritation at the, probably unintentional (and therefore even more objectionable) exclusionist religiosity of some of the speakers, notably Eric Holder.
Obama’s speech had none of that, and I think, overall, it was masterful. There will be carping from the right, of course. If he says black they’ll say white and if he switches to accommodate them, they’ll switch right back.
But I don’t think it’ll do them much good this time, because people saw the speech first hand, so it will be harder to misrepresent. Obama was particularly good in that he raised the issue that’s been on everyone’s mind-the poisonous hate coming from the right- without specifically pointing the finger at anyone, or saying anything to which they could really object. He did not, saints be praised, assign blame to both sides equally. For this we can be doubly thankful. First, it would have been untrue, and second, it would be depressing to think that Obama believes in that meme or that he feels he must parrot it. Parenthetically, I was personally pleased that he made only glancing mention of religion.
It’s at times like this that Obama is at his best, trying to get us into contact with the better angels of our nature.
I, for one, had no problem with the cheers. There were at least two reasons for holding that event. First, to both grieve for, and pay tribute to the victims. Second, and ultimately more important, to make the case that we can put this sort of thing behind us if we stick together, reject it, and fight against it. So the cheers were not just for the folks on the ground who distinguished themselves during the massacre, but for all of us who reject violence and hate as a way of dealing with those with whom we disagree and as an affirmation that we can beat the hate back now as we have in the past.
I’ve criticized the guy a lot, but he deserves credit for his handling of the national psyche in this case. He’s got his faults, but isn’t it nice to have a basically decent person in the White House?
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