I've been nursing an angry diary for the past several days, chewing on my rage, and formulating pithy prose to express my disappointment. We've all discussed and examined the issues, each jumping in with our carefully couched pronouncements on our individual degree of disagreement with President Obama's recent decisions.
Then, this morning, I had a bit of extra time before heading down to the Old People's Downsizing Project to attack the final paint touch up, and I turned on the TV.
Did you know that BRAVO is re-running The West Wing at 9 and 10am (eastern) every week day? A rush of memories came flooding in. Memories of how sane the Bartlett White House seemed during the insanity of the Bush Administration. Memories of Josh, and Leo trying to keep the President progressive when the realities of government were pulling him to the center. Memories of each of the forceful dynamics of Washington being laid out with extraordinary wit and sage observation.
And, I was reminded, once again that what goes on in the Oval Office is the result of trying to balance the forces of thousands of competing opinions and pressures, all conspiring to make the perfect the enemy of the good.
I'm far less angry about Gitmo, and military commissions, torture photos, and health care. I'm far less enraged about the "failure" of Mr. Obama to "deliver". Indeed, I am reminded of Sidney Blumenthal's tale in "The Clinton Years", when the "old hands" in DC, meeting with President Clinton in his first few days in office, telling him, "OK. You won. You made a lot of promises. Now we are going to tell you how the system really works."
I have never been a dewey eyed idealist. I have never found a single issue that would drive me to hysteria if things don't work out the way I would wish. I didn't chain myself to trees, or lay down in front of trains. I have always known that there is information, and forces, out there that I neither knew of, nor had any control over.
I supported Barack Obama because I came to think that he was pragmatic, extremely skilled as a politician, and sufficiently ground in a consistent moral philosophy to choose the best course through the mine field of competing demands to improve the functioning of government. "The West Wing" re-runs have reminded me to step back and let him do his job.
Yes. We have to "hold his feet to the fire". Yes. We have to "keep him honest". (Although, why we think he will not be honest is a question we should address!) Yes. He serves us, and it is important to remind him of that everyday.
But, he is the President of the United States. Our desires, or beliefs, and our goals are not the only ones he must address.
It would be good for all of us to sit down some morning and watch a couple of episodes of "The West Wing", again. It will remind of us the reality of running a giant government under the stress of a fractured world. It will remind us to stop, and take a deep breath whenever we feel the rage.