Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Defeat with Honor

To my surprise, my tears started flowing during John McCain’s concession speech on election night, as I realized the emotional attachment I unknowingly had for the man and his record. Time will tell if Obama’s contributions to this country will match McCain’s, but for now, all I see is a man who has devoted his life to serving this country, and serving it well---a man of flesh and blood and “authenticity”---defeated by a life-sized cardboard cut-out symbol.

All I've asked of my Democratic friends is that they admit their vote for symbolism, or defend Obama’s record, character and positions on issues as reasonable support for expectations of good governance. So far, in this long campaign, I've heard one or two grudging acknowledgements of the first stance, and only feeble attempts at the second.

I saw an Italian headline—“Today, the world changed”. Yes, I know Barack will soon begin to “cool the earth, and heal the sick”, but here’s what hasn’t changed—human nature. The last big change in the world, in my opinion, was on September 17, 1787—when the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, PA adopted the US Constitution---a document that I believe changed the course of human history in a far more dramatic way than any single person has, save Moses, Jesus, Buddha or Mohammed. The authors of the Constitution crafted a document that ingeniously addressed both the strengths and weaknesses of the human character, and yet Obama, in his wisdom, thinks the Constitution has “a blind spot” because it doesn’t address income equality. Karl Marx’s document, The Communist Manifesto, had no such shortcoming---which document has proved more enduring?

In eighth grade I was the sole voice in my Social Studies classroom in Maryland arguing for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, defending my ideas against classmates who slyly snickered the “N” word---only to be corrected by the teacher that the proper word was “colored”. (My Republican parents taught me that the proper term was Negro, and supported the NAACP with their pocketbooks, and passage of the Act in their dinner table conversations.) In class, I repeated what I had heard at home---that people, as MLK said, should be judged on the basis of their character, their behavior, and their intellect, not on the color of their skin. I’m still arguing that philosophy today, but I’m betting at least some of my old Maryland classmates voted for Obama, and did so based on the color of his skin (for what other reason is this election "historic" if not for race?), not on the content of his character. Maybe, at last, they’ve atoned for their earlier shameful views. Me, I haven't changed my positions on race much--except to deplore the politics of victimization adopted by contemporary black "leaders", but I still don't agree with the majority of Maryland voters, at least not in this election.

If Obama had defeated anyone other than McCain, this would not be nearly as painful. I might worry just as much about our country sliding towards the European style of governance and defense, but it would be from a more emotionally detached perspective.