Some thoughtful commentary on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton from a guest contributor, who happens to be female and is an Obama supporter:
I know we over-reflect upon 9/11 but I do think it's true that our nation experienced a great sense of "common" destiny which just was not cultivated -- and I don't think the neocons are the only ones to blame for that. You're right, Obama's campaign is much about recovering that sensibilty, inviting anyone and everyone to embrace it, and allowing it to permeate our society so that "common" is actually a more popular paradigm than "elite" and, so that movements of fairness will have a real chance to sweep the political ranks and significantly change some of the "business as usual".
As far as Hilary's challenge, I really feel that she already has a legacy -- as a unique first lady who insisted that the powers-that-be take a clear hard look at a private, monolithic system, which has been bleeding our citizens instead of healing them. She can always be proud of that. This whole "first female president" stump however is a hollow carp to my ears. Do we really need a "Hillary" in the oval office to assure our daughters that they can achieve their dreams in this country? Don't get me wrong. I do think it's GREAT that she's pursuing her dream in this context. But if she doesn't succeed there better not be any suggestion from her that it was because she was a gal. That would be discouraging to girls....and would, I think, discredit her as a role model. Anyway...
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Editor's Note: This thread of discussion started in response to my video.
Prosecute Bush et al. Chapter 1
Yes, Obama is the closest thing we've got going to moving us toward a national common destiny. I still think that part of that destiny needs to be holding some people accountable in a transparent and fair manner. Allowing impunity is dangerous on at least two fronts. First, it signals the acceptance of behaviors which are contrary our civil system. Such an erosion leads to a state of might makes right, the law of the jungle, decay of civility.
Second, those who have been wronged, both foreign and domestic, will conclude that the civil system of justice has failed. This will legitimize vigilante justice, another dimension of the decay of civility.
With that in mind, it's clearly more than a matter of "our reputation" as a nation. It isn't sufficient to tell the world, "We now have new leaders who are good. You can rest assured that the power of the US is now in good hands. You are safe from abuses." People around the world know that operatives in the Reagan administration, who enabled death squads and other horrors, were recycled into the Bush administration, to commit America to a war in Iraq, to signal acceptance of a violent coup attempt against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, to kidnap and torture and kill people, many of whom were innocent or bit players (See Taxi to the Darkside). They need to know that, this time, such people are going to have criminal records that keep them out of public office.
But your point about "it's not just the neocons" is true in this setting too. It's not just Obama's responsibility to prosecute criminal acts of Bush administration officials. It's the responsibility of the common people to insist that this be done. That's, in part, why I created the video... to help spur people on.
Ugh. enough of that. See, if it weren't for Bush, we'd be talking about positive change, worker owned businesses, innovative solutions to our energy needs, clever means of protecting our water resources and creating jobs in the process. Obama will have some house cleaning to do, but he can also lead us in this positive direction.
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