01-20-09

01-20-09

These numbers have been staring at me from my refrigerator magnet now for over a year. And now the magic number has arrived, purged and cleansed of association with george bush and his disasterous administration. They now belong completely to Barack Obama.

But not only to Barack Obama and the hope for his presidency, based again in the Reality World of respect for intelligence, scientific evidence, and pragmatic political solutions that benefit average citizens rather than just the rich and powerful.

No, this date also belongs to the Obama Family. It was symbolized so powerfully on election night when this beautiful young family, all four of them, not just the politician himself, walked out onto the platform to greet the throng of supporters and acknowledge the victory. We have elected a close-knit, loving family to serve as our royalty and our role models. And they will be superb.

Today, I am less focused on policies, though I am excited at the changes that will come. Today is for soaking up the change in tone and attitude.

Mickey Nardo says it best in his blog from yesterday, "my hope," in which he talks about kindness as a quality that's been missing and that Obama displays repeatedly:

So what I’m looking for from Obama is a consistent modelling of his kindness, and he’s doing fine so far. I don’t think kindness is naive. One can be at war without being unkind. One can drive hard bargains and still treat others kindly. Just like one can feel really angry at a spouse or a child, and still act without unkindness or cruelty. As soon as one makes the step of depersonalizing or dehumanizing another person or group, making them some other kind, the bond of shared humanity is broken and the resulting unkindness just contributes to what’s wrong in the world.

Paradoxically, a career in Psychiatry exposed me to a lot of what’s dark in the world, particularly in the public sector - criminals and worse. But that exposure in fact strengthened my belief that there was really no such thing as evil - at least as an intrinsic quality. There were just a lot of people who were pretty sick or deluded, usually from being treated unkindly in the world.

I have no illusion that the coming Administration can infect America with kindness. It’s only an ideal. But I think Barack and Michelle can do something absolutely remarkable, if they continue their present course, and resist the kind of retaliation and disdainfulness we’ve seen modeled these last eight years. He’s a smart guy, and I anticipate that he’ll govern wisely and get everything possible out of his aides and advisors. But the biggest gift he’s got to give is not from his brainpower or political skills, it’s by setting an example that we haven’t seen for a very, very long time.

Someone once chose kindness -- ie, treating others as you would like to be treated -- as the essential quality both in religion and civil society. The Obamas have it, and they pass it along. It dovetails, and perhaps infects, his policies and his programs. Mickey says he has no illusion it will infect America. I'm not so sure. Perhaps not quite an epidemic, but just like a smile to a stranger often gets passed on -- a few kindness germs beginning to spread through Washington, the press corps, our diplomatic relations. Who knows what could happen?

Before my more cynical friends start rolling their eyes and point out all the evil in the world that must be stamped out before it destroys us, I'm not naive either. Nor is Obama. He backs it up with toughness and pragmatism. But, you know what? It doesn't have to be either/or.

We're leaving the mentality of "you're either with us or you're against us." We're into community organizing, negotiating, recognizing others and talking with them. It's feels like a new day.

Ralph