Being Reminded of an Important Lesson

Before I start in on this blog, I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Independence Day. It’s interesting, because numerous people wished me a “Happy 4th!” and I wondered if we had forgotten the meaning of this holiday that commemorates our independence from the British, represents our freedom, our open society, 1776 and the Declaration of Independence and our Bill of Rights. As I sat in front of my daughter’s home in Southern California watching the little fireworks display and seeing neighbors left and right lighting and burning combustible materials that make pretty colors and parents feigning excitement for their children, including my delight in watching my own grandchildren’s response to the sights and sounds, I couldn’t help but think that we’d lost what this holiday is all about.

My neighbor had brought over a couple of books on tape for us to listen to on our long drive back and forth, and with at least a 14-hour round-trip, we had time to write our own book if we chose to. One of the books was My Life by Bill Clinton, and although that is not a book that either of us had chosen to pick up, with the CDs sitting in the box on our backseat, we decided to see how much we could take. It is truly ironic that last year, I had such a different opinion of President Clinton. He was charismatic, visionary and really one of my heroes. This past primary season has unfortunately tarnished and sullied my once unhindered admiration of the man. Nevertheless, we gave the book a try.

It is quite slow in the beginning, and covers Mr. Clinton’s early years, his upbringing and the hard times that he and his family experienced in the American South. I did find myself recognizing that not many people with such a difficult beginning could or would ascend to the highest office in the land. Bill Clinton seemed destined to rise above all of his adversities and take something positive out of each lesson. What I am writing about in this blog is easily the largest lesson that he learned from eight years in the White House and what Barack Obama can learn from it, as well.

Something that thrust itself upon the Clintons that had never happened in their previous years in the public eye is the Republican Party, particularly people like Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Tom Delay and Henry Hyde, and the lengths that they will go to destroy what they are either threatened by or simply don’t agree with. The Clinton book has a recurring theme of Bill and sometimes Hillary working so diligently and earnestly on massive projects like healthcare, NAFTA, restructuring student loan programs, moving people off of welfare and into jobs programs, etc. and then hitting the buzz saw that is and was the Congress of the United States.

These men and women of the opposing party were well financed, not well meaning and out for blood. There were also men of extreme wealth and power, people like Richard Mellon Scaife and several prominent organizations, who spend massive amounts of money making certain that presidents like Bill Clinton hit roadblocks that are created and designed to alter public opinion, prop up and empower men who exist solely to hurt and destroy, and exploit the weakest points in a person like Clinton and like a termite, gnaw and chew until there’s nothing left, or if you survive, you’re not the same person you were when things looked rosy and promising.

As I sat a listened to the long and drawn out story of Bill Clinton’s life leading to a triumphant but tumultuous eight years in the White House, I kept thinking about Barack Obama. I thought of a relatively young man from a completely different background and upbringing than Bill Clinton, but without much of the baggage that Mr. Clinton was saddled with. I thought of a man who possesses many if not all of Bill Clinton’s charismatic qualities, his eloquence, his clear and progressive thinking, his innate ability to woo a crowd and leave them impassioned and feeling like anything is possible, and yet a man who, unlike Clinton, carries seemingly no negative history with him into the presidency. He is a decent, honest, forthright man who has chosen a very traditional and unassailable life as a husband, a family man and a life of service.

I honestly don’t mean to deride Bill Clinton, because his explanations of his many controversies leading into and during his presidency are thorough, detailed and quite plausible, but the quantity of them and the repetitiveness of certain accusations left Clinton seeming to be on the defensive for most of his eight years in office. Obama, on the other hand, has plenty of grist for the mill for his political enemies to choose from, but it also seems relatively meritless, petty and frankly without any substance. More importantly, let he who is without any difficulties or controversies in his life cast the first stone.

I would like to emphasize that the unfair and baseless attacks we have seen in the past few months is nothing compared to what is to come. Barack is doing well so far, but he must learn from the lessons of Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton that come through loud and clear in this book. Don’t give and inch. Not one inch. The people who are threatened by a Barack Obama becoming the president of this country will stop at nothing. They are vicious, ruthless, rabid and full of hate. As we have already seen, they will take one morsal of truth and twist it, distort it and add any other information required to make their point, and their point will be made.

Just this morning I was looking at some innocuous pictures that were sent to me that depict Barack in various poses with family members, in Africa and speaking at various events. The captions added to the photos make it look like he is running for president of Ghana. They are from the imagination of people who don’t like change, don’t accept people who look and speak differently from them, and if they don’t have anything of substance to spread to anyone who will look and listen, they will make things up.

Obama knows this, and his rapid response to many of these attacks is the proper action to take. Even in my relatively small exposure to people on a local level, I have gently corrected and educated people who were certain that Barack was a Muslim, that he refuses to say the pledge of allegiance, that he’s not really a citizen, that he is associated with Louis Farrakhan, that he has no legislative experience, that his wife is an uppity so and so. You name it, I’ve heard it. I realize that many if not all of these people would not have been votes for Obama no matter what they believe, but I feel that it is all of our responsibilities to stand with Barack and make certain that his message gets out there and that we do our part to make sure that misinformation is corrected and clarified.

The nasty lessons learned by the Clintons should not be ignored by anyone from Barack on down. They are a constant reminder that roughly 25% of this country is not ready for a president like Barack. These people have representatives in this country in high places, many of them in the media, as well, and they will spend 24 hours a day trying to destroy you. There was a sadness that I heard throughout the book that we listened to up and down the state as we were driving, and that is that good people are continuously and viciously attacked by bad. I suppose that that is a fact of life, but it must not be forgotten and our guard must never be down.

The good news is that there are three-quarters of this country who are ready for change, ready to accept a president who may not look exactly like them, who excites them to their core and makes them feel that anything is possible if everyone works together and if we all fight for what is right and will help people in this country. I feel so positive that despite the difficulties that lie ahead, Barack can overcome them, challenge the conventional wisdom that says that the minority in this country can take you down, and I am confident that Barack Obama is just the man to bust through and win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of this country.