Jessica

Vozel

Read Jessica's bio and previous columns here

November 10, 2008

Come Together Right Now . . . Over Obama?

Post-election, there’s inevitably a lot of talk about unity and division. We’ve been a divided nation for nearly eight years, aside from the months sandwiched between 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War. It was a division for which both parties were responsible. Now, we’ve elected our first African-American president and have made the world proud. We’re entering a new political and cultural era. But the shared pride of our accomplishment is not enough to unite us and will fade quickly. 

President-elect Obama has urged Americans to come together to work for the common good. Some conservatives, of course, are not having any of that. And I understand the sentiment – in 2004 when President Bush spoke of coming together in his acceptance speech, I balked. Come together? No way. Not under this guy. So I suppose it’s easy for me, from the position of someone whose party is represented in the Oval Office for the first time in her adult life, to say we need to come together. 

But I’m going to say it. Our country is divided at its own peril. It’s no secret that we are enduring tough times right now – for many of us, the toughest we’ve experienced in our lifetime. I don’t need to outline the challenges we face. Plunking a new administration down right in the midst of such challenges has its rewards and its disadvantages. On the plus side, we have new brains to reevaluate the way we’ve been running things. We have a president in whom many of us have faith. But we’re also divided by default because of a tough two years of election squabbles and mud-slinging. This administration shift requires a period of transition that makes us vulnerable in terms of our economy and our national security. And we are made all the more vulnerable when we are not united. 

I think we should start with a definition of unity. Unity does not mean blind acceptance. It doesn’t mean conservatives must see the light and embrace liberal policies. It doesn’t mean quelling dissenting voices or water-cooler political debates. In fact, most of the unifying will be the responsibility of Obama’s Administration, and he has admitted as much. Our responsibility, then, is to have the patience to see what Obama does and respect his efforts, should he follow through and make them. Our responsibility is to listen to the concerns of others. Our responsibility is to wipe off the mud and think about, to use JFK’s famous phrase, what we can do for America. Love of country has no partisan boundaries and makes for a great jumping-off point in establishing a unified front once again. 

Division doesn’t end with partisanship. Both of the parties are suffering from in-fighting as well. Republicans are faced with a schism between economic and ideological conservatives, between those who salivate over former VP-pick Sarah Palin and those who think her the downfall of the McCain campaign. Democrats are divided over the disheartening anti-gay legislation in Florida, Arizona, Arkansas and California. Some Democrats are accusing African-Americans of homophobia, as their turnout for Obama and their tendency to vote “yes” on Proposition 8 helped to pass the California law banning gay marriage in a state that broke ground by allowing it just months ago. In turn, African-Americans are calling gay people and their supporters racist for scapegoating them when Mormons and other religious groups spent millions on ads supporting Proposition 8.

Let me be clear that I don’t expect homosexual Americans to suck it up. They lost rights that they deserve, and the Constitution does not speak for them yet. But squabbling within the party over whose fault it was and tamping down the positive implications of an Obama victory does little to help ideologically or practically. 

Others within the party are already criticizing Obama’s cabinet picks. If Rahm Emanuel is not too centrist, he’s too liberal. If Democrats can’t come together after a decisive victory, then our country has some real problems. 

I know that a healed nation is a long way off, but by fueling division and not looking to what we can do to enact positive change together, we are only pouring salt into our country’s wounds. 

Also, take a look at http://www.zefrank.com/from52to48withlove/. It does with images what I cannot do with words.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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