The Cairo Speech

Image by Free Mass via Flickr

After only one reading, I am amazed at the difference in this president and most others. He really gets it. He understands that the globe on which we live will not sustain institutional hatred or bigotry. The distance from the front of this boat, we are all passengers in, to the rear is too short. What effects one ultimately affects all of us. Everybody needs to be bailing or paddling. What cannot be tolerated is a few trying to disadvantage the many. There is no room for thieves, murders or bullies, except in the water.

Obama reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt when he was governor of New York. He had participated in some infighting with some party bosses. Mr. Thomas Platt in particular, was trying to obstruct a political appointment. He threatened to ruin Roosevelt if he did not acquiesce. Roosevelt held his ground and prevailed. Later when recounting the incident to a friend in a letter he wrote “I have always been fond of the West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” It seems that President Obama has mastered speaking softly and I hope he can follow through with the big stick when it is required.
It strikes me that the President is an inherently honest man. He speaks from the heart and is not afraid to utter hard truths. Unlike most politicians, he seems to value the ability of truth to promote his agenda and beliefs. I detect no dissembling or attempts to manipulate the truth. He calls it like it is. That in and of itself is a refreshing change from the historical norm.
I am impressed that he really understands better then most the nobility of the American dream. That dream is first about liberty and equality for all. It is about a place where many can stand together to implement those ideas for all. Then secondly, it is about the opportunity to achieve the level of prosperity your effort entitles you too. Without the first part, the second part is merely a function of repression.
He also espouses something that I have always believed. Decent people all over the world want the same things for themselves and their families. They want peace and prosperity, some say as to how they are governed, health care for themselves and their children, education and the chance to improve the future and the ability to worship according to their own conscience. They abhor war and human depravity just as all right thinking people do. They would rather live in peace with their neighbors then lose everything in meaningless conflict where there are no winners.
I think he reached a good balance between the olive branch and the sword. He did not apologize for Afghanistan or our intention to protect our allies or ourselves. He called the Islamic countries to task for ignoring their duty to their own peoples prosperity. He reached out an open hand in peace and friendship and called for all to cooperate in making this a better world. It was a magnificent gesture and I believe he meant every word.
There will be many who disagree. The right wing talking heads will accuse him of pandering and socialism again. There will be conjecture as to which Washington area mosque he is sneaking out to in the middle of the night. On the other hand, there will be Islamic extremist who will say he does not mean it or as long as he supports Israel, it is meaningless. Some people are not happy unless the glass is half-empty. They would rather fight over what is left of their hate then join hands and search for more water. Those people will eventually destroy themselves or force us to do it for them. Unfortunately, they will make many others miserable in the process.
Life is often a series of self-fulfilling prophecies. We fashion our existence either purposefully or through lack of purpose. Generally, the more we do for others the more we accomplish for ourselves. The more we reach out our hands in peace, to give a hand up to those less fortunate, the better the future for us all. If we wander aimlessly without purpose, we endanger ourselves and threaten others. We come to feel entitled to those things we neglect to earn on our own. You are only entitled to freedom if you are willing to die for it. You are only entitled to food and shelter if you are willing to work for it.
Those unable to work or contribute due to physical or mental defect are the rightful responsibility of us all and we should accord them more sustenance and dignity then we do. Those unwilling to work or contribute should be thrown out of the boat and have no claim on the rest of us. The difficulty of course is in knowing the difference between the two to a moral certainty. Well, I dissemble and am getting way off track.
In closing, I am proud of this President. He strikes me as a good and moral man worthy of the great office he holds. I do not by any means think him perfect but still a much better man for the job then what we could have had. He gets it.

Iranian Elections 2009

June 12, 2009 will go down as a historical day in the history of Iran. It will be marked as a day when the Iranian people demanded a free and fair election from their government. Not since the national referendum on April 1, 1979 when the people of Iran had one choice (an Islamic Republic, yes or no) have they been so insistent that their vote mean something. Putting fear aside, they have refused to accept an election tainted by obvious perfidy. Massing in the streets some two hundred thousand strong and ignoring the presence of the police and security forces they are raising their voices and demanding their votes count.

In a culture, that predates the birth of Christ by some 2500 years this event is potentially more momentous then any other. If the Iranian people are successful in backing down the mullahs, Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader, especially without massive strife and loss of life, it will be a singularly remarkable achievement. In their long, long history, they have always been subjected to a government retaining all power unto itself and repressive to one degree or another. Granted that sometimes they have had beneficent rulers and even a constitutional monarchy at one time, they have never had control of their own destiny.

Freedom is not something you can give to or bestow on a nation. Freedom can only be had when a people are determined to be free. To paraphrase John Fitzgerald Kennedy, they must be willing to pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend and oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of their liberty. In other words, they must be willing to die for it. It seems the Iranian people have reached a point in their history, where they will not easily be denied their freedom.

For the sake of regional stability and peace in addition to our belief in self-government, we should all hope they succeed. The invalidation of the results announced before they could have even been tabulated, would send a number of strong messages around the world. It would of course remind the extremist fundamentalist clerics in Iran and elsewhere that most Muslims want to live in peace with the rest of the world. It would send the same message to Al Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah. It would remind Israel and the hard line Christen fundamentalist that not every Muslim wants Armageddon. It would tell President Obama and the rest of the world that the Iranian people were listening when he spoke in Cairo.

It is hard to know what if any impact that speech had on this election. Undoubtedly, the President’s ratcheting down of the dialogue between America and Islam has had some positive effect on world opinion. Hardliners will say he is an apologist and weak, a radical in sheep’s clothing, even a secret Muslim. These people are different from radical political criminals only in their behavior. Their motivation and thinking are the same, based on fear and hate.

It is a particularly horrific part of human nature, which makes some people search for reasons to hate other people. Discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, greed, hate or sex are especially abhorrent. There is undoubtedly evil lurking in the hearts and minds of some men. Frequently it manifests itself as a thirst for power, a desire for revenge over some ancient or perceived insult, a feeling of racial superiority or religious intolerance. The manifestations of such evil are horribly terrifying to those not so afflicted or should be.

Even today, there is still slavery and genocide happening in the world. There are drug cartels, regional warlords, terrorist groups and criminal enterprises of every ilk plying their trades and spreading their evil. These kinds of people are a vociferous and dangerous element of society.

Like any criminals, they deserve to be hunted down, given a fair trial and incarcerated for their crimes. It is a grievous mistake though to assume that all of their co religionist, fellow citizens, family members or people of the same ethnicity are alike unto them.

Not all Christens are faithful followers of Christ or fundamentalist Christen zealots. Not all Muslims are faithful followers of Islam or fundamentalist Islamic extremist. Notwithstanding the example of Indonesia, the people of Iran, regardless of the eventual outcome, have proven that. Their thirst and desire for freedom are evident and worthy of approbation and support.

Now if only the people of Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan will take a page out of the Iranian people’s playbook maybe the Israeli Palestinian situation can be resolved quickly and peacefully. The resources of the world’s countries would serve humanity better if turned to eradicating hunger, disease, poverty, ignorance and crime. Maybe then, we could concentrate on alternative fuels, physics, philosophy, the arts and humanities. A utopian vision, yes, but one worth pursuing. If more of the worlds people had the vision and courage the Iranians have displayed since this election anything would be possible.