NYTimes Op-Ed columnist Frank Rich: The Obama Haters' Silent Enablers
It's a great read - I usually find Frank Rich's columns worth a read, and often find myself in agreement.
The article says better than I ever could about the dangers of fomenting domestic terrorism, intentionally or not, by using the bully pulpit in such a way. Sometimes I think these pundits are cynically boosting their ratings. Sometimes I think they drink their own kool-aid.
One thing that I think Rich could've mentioned was the possibility that Obama is a particularly tempting target, but by no means the actual source of the anger. I realize Op-Ed column space is limited, and the Gray Lady is looking none too healthy nowadays, and might be tempted to replace his column with, say, adult personals.
But as a person whose worldview can best be described as a damped oscillator between Hegel and Marx as far as what is superstructure and what is substructure, I'm inclined to say that an uptick in domestic terrorism was to be expected purely for economic reasons. No doubt Obama is a tempting target - he is, after all, African-American, a Democrat, a liberal, and the guy currently in charge.
Near-term, yes, the punditocracy and what remains of the respectable GOP leadership would do well to make it clear that politics is politics, but that there are limits upon which all agree. What makes "us" (the United States, a liberal democracy) different from "them" (Al-Qaeda and other terror groups) are our principles, our willingness to impose limitations on our behavior in a quest to build up a more perfect union of liberty and cooperation.
This anger has to do with economics - I don't think there would be such vituperate frustration if we were in the roaring '90s. But as important (and here is where the pendulum swings from Marx to Hegel) is the attack on the self-conceived American identity.
The vast majority of people in this country are not starving, nor are in danger of starving. Our basic economic needs will largely be met. But pride, self-actualization, have been violently trashed. The person who maxed out their credit cards to pay for a lifestyle above and beyond their means is being forced to confront the lie that was their last few years - that they were somehow entitled to these things, despite what the "boss" thought they were worth. The person who was counting on a comfortable retirement through the magic of the stock market woke up to find half of their portfolio gone. Less prescient individuals near retirement are finding their pensions gone or severely diminished. Recent college grads are having to move home - only 20% of 2009 grads have a job for the fall.
One day, all of us wake up and realize that we're not special for any easy, undeserved reason. Everything that makes us "special" is the consequence of choice, work, and the relationships we choose to create and preserve. And so, the chickens have come home to roost for those who have lived not only unexamined lives, but a willfully ignorant existence.
That, fundamentally, is why it becomes appealing to shoot a security guard, or attack the President, or otherwise engage in antisocial behavior. It's sick - but no one ever said that people were naturally well.
Over the past few years, it has slowly dawned upon me that there is nothing intrinsically special about me. It's beeen a hard pill to swallow - but a useful one. I cannot hide behind education, intelligence, religion, class, or any other construction to justify my own superiority in the social structure. What has prevented me from falling down that path of these very wrongheaded people - I make no claim that I am impervious to the psychological, economic, and emotional stress that leads to someone doing this - is an emotional web of connectedness with enough people, ideas, and resources to make life enjoyable.
This is not a proscriptive post - I have no suggestions. I only wanted to make the point that Rich did not have time/interest in writing about - Obama is a convenient target, but he is by no means the primary source of the anger. The anger runs deep, and wide, and long, and a fair measure of it is self-hatred. Be on the lookout for these things, in yourself, in those you love, and in your community.
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