The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Rev. Christina M. Neilson

November 9^th, 2008

Today I feel great. I feel optimistic, even ecstatic, and somewhat exhausted, though I am recovering from that. This week, we made history. It is every bit as important as winning the vote for African Americans and women. It is as big even as landing on the moon. We have changed history, and we aren’t going back. Actor Will Smith said on Oprah this week: “Barack Obama is not just an African American president, Humankind has been changed forever.”[1]

Has the struggle been worth it? For me, a resounding yes. But along the way I have been turned off by many things that have happened. Along with the good, comes the bad, and even the ugly. The American columnist, E.J. Dionne in his book ‘Why Americans Hate Politics‘ argues that one of the main reasons for people being turned off politics is because it (political debate) seems irrelevant to them, they feel that they are being manipulated because they are always being asked to make false choices: you’re either staunchly religious or vehemently secular, pro-business or pro-unions, pro-growth or pro-environment, for civil liberties or against them, a progressive or a dinosaur.

The truth is, of course, that most people don’t think like this, most people don’t live their lives in this way, and most people long for a politics where we have genuine arguments, vigorous disagreements, where we don’t claim to have a monopoly on what is right or wrong, where we don’t demonize our political opponents. Most people want their politicians to engage in what Barack Obama has called a “fair-minded” approach to politics; politics that understands that truth and certainty are not the same thing.”[2]

Truth and certainty are not the same thing. What a radical notion!

Bad politics leads to bad human behavior. It’s bad that someone stole my “Hillary” sign on the day of the election. It’s bad that I said some things last week that I have come to reconsider this week. I was in a state of anxiety and anticipation last week that made me feel just a little desperate about the election turnout, especially in Ohio. I wrote my sermon while I was canvassing. I am afraid that I may have inferred that anyone who is a religious conservative fails to watch the news, open a newspaper or read a book. I followed that by calling them morally bankrupt. That was a little harsh. I should not have said that. It just furthers the idea that Liberals are right and conservatives are wrong, which is just as arrogant as the opposite being true. I have had a lot invested in this campaign. I really wanted to make history, and I wanted Ohio to be part of that history. I have nothing against Republicans, I just feel like their party has been co-opted by the religious right, and they have shown disproportionate political power.

None of the candidates are free from creating harm. In Biden’s first campaign in 1987, he was caught stealing lines from speeches of John and Robert Kennedy’s and British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. He inflated his academic record, and admitted that he was caught plagiarizing in law school. When cornered by the press about his plagiarism, he said, “I think I have a much higher I.Q. than you do.”

I could personally care less whether Biden cheated in Law School. That’s his cross to bear. But I have been very disturbed by the misogyny in this campaign. I know during the primaries there was tension between the Obama supporters and the Hillary supporters, and a lot of denial of all that was said and done in the name of getting information out. I know some were impatient with Hillary for not supporting Obama soon enough after her campaign ended, but I along with many other’s needed time to grieve. I think the Obama camp made some hurtful misogynist comments.

I was so proud of Hillary’s excellent concession speech, when she named the battle for all women:

“I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to leave all children brighter tomorrows.

To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and their mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect.

Let us resolve and work toward achieving very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits, and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st century in our country. Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it...”[3]

I hope we get to realize a world where there are no acceptable prejudices. But while the country endorsed Barack very affirmatively, three states voted against marriage equality. In California, 70% of African Americans and ethnic minorities voted for proposition 8, which banned legal rights between same sex couples. They only made up 10% of the total vote, so the vote can’t be blamed on them, but it did have an impact. While I applaud the great strides that we made during this election, we still have a long way to go.

Okay, so that does make me want to move to Canada, where apparently they don’t seem to have this issue. They even offer political asylum for same sex couples. But election politics got even worse. I knew there would be some kind of negative blitz the final week, but some of this is just ridiculous.

McCain is quoted as saying in Arizona, “I don't need any lessons in being honest with the American people, and if I did, I wouldn't seek it from a Chicago politician. . . . There's much we don't know about Senator Obama. For a guy who has authored two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book. Who is the real Barack Obama?

It's as if somehow the usual rules don't apply, and where other candidates have to explain themselves and their records, Senator Obama seems to think he is above all that . . . His campaign had to return $33,000 in illegal foreign funds from Palestinian donors, and this weekend, we found out about another $28,000 in illegal donations. Why has Senator Obama refused to disclose the people who are funding his campaign? Again, the American people deserve answers”.[4]

Obama’s campaign was mocked unmercifully. His positions on important issues were re-written to invoke fear.

Illegal Immigration: "Learn to Speak Spanish";

Terrorist Threat to America: "Learn to Speak Arabic";

Reparations to Black Community: Opposes before Election Day and supports after Election Day;

Freedom of Religion: Mandatory Black Liberation Theology courses taught in all churches;

Homosexual Marriage: Coddle sexual perverts. Give tax breaks for NAMBLA membership; (North American Man/Boy Love Association)

Drug Crisis: Raise taxes for free drugs for Obama's inner-city political base;

The White House: Hire rapper Ludacris to "paint it black." Frankly, I think the White House could use some color.[5]

In Ohio we consistently saw misrepresentation of Obama’s economic and tax policy, we saw a rehash of the Rev. Wright adds, we were glutted with “Obsession” DVD’s, designed to make us fear Muslims, inferring that Barack was Muslim. My thought was, he’s not Muslim, but so what if he was? Barack Obama’s aunt’s citizenship status was “leaked”, followed by a mysterious resignation of Julie Myers, head of U.S. Immigration & Customs.

Barack responded by calling McCain small and ugly, and just reaffirmed his message of “check out the facts” on his website. He said, “We've seen it before and we're seeing it again -- ugly phone calls, misleading mail, misleading TV ads, careless, outrageous comments,"[6]

Brit Hume, Washington reporter, talks about ugly politics during the Nixon years: Almost 35 years later, as Hume prepared for his final election night as a television anchor, he says he was mistaken -- Washington was nowhere near the basement of its civility. ''Those were ugly days,'' he broods, ``but these are worse.''

''The atmosphere in Washington has become poisonous, the most contentious and unpleasant that I've ever seen,'' he says. ``Nobody really trusts anybody. Any time one party has an idea, the other suspects it's some kind of a sham to gain advantage. . . .[7]

It’s no wonder that Washington feels that way- they are guilty of just that. States have redistricted to guarantee a win of their district. Candidates didn’t have to win the district, just re-run. It benefited both parties, but gave us less choice as voting citizens. It’s gotten ugly- it’s no wonder so many people are claiming to be independent, and wanting to find a way to run a successful third candidate.

Talk show hosts are complaining about freedom of the press. Conservatives claim that there is a Pro-Obama press bias, and that Palin was unfairly treated in the press. After she returned to Alaska she referred to the press as a “Sticky apple basket.” I think there is probably some truth in that, but honestly I feel like the Republican Party sold her out more than the press. She was criticized for buying clothes for herself and her family, but at the same time, she was expected to dress in a particular way. And just to show how petty it can get, anyone who has watched news since the election knows how much time has been spent commenting on Michelle Obama’s red and black dress.

Frankly, the most despicable ugly press I’ve heard is when Ralph Nader said about Obama, “Basically his choice is, is he an Uncle Sam for the people of the country, or is he an Uncle Tom for the corporate world,” and implied that so far, he had chosen to be an Uncle Tom. That is just so disrespectful of everything that Obama has stood for, and plans to do. Is he an Uncle Tom because he doesn’t fit the stereotype of an “Angry black man?” Is it so inconceivable that a person can be both conciliatory and assertive? Confident rather than arrogant? Decisive, but not unthinking? Even the Fox News commentator was disgusted.

Although it did get bad and ugly, still some great moments shine over all of that. McCain’s concession speech was fabulous. Where was he during the election? If this man had shown up, more people would have voted for him. He played on defensive attacks the entire time.

O’Bama’s acceptance speech was terrific as well. We have a visionary and renewed hope for the future. Just watching the tears stream down the faces of the crowd created an indelible image, etched into our memory. We now face a whole new day of anti-racism, and hope for ending discrimination. My father went from “I’m not voting for that n----- (n word) to voting for Obama and feeling good about it. That’s growth. We have a vision of the common good that includes our efforts in making that happen.

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on the negative. We have to work together for what still can be.

This is what some of you said to me that you’d like our next president to do his first day in office:

Lay out his economic agenda

Create a big infrastructure project

Get troops out of Iraq

Fund education

Rescind all the powers that Bush and congress gave to the office of the president.

Enter the office with humility and respect- to not become complacent.

To give a personal address to the nation about foreclosures, torture, healthcare, education

Gain the nation’s trust and receive support from the people.

Make a statement to Islam about torture- let them know that there is a new Sheriff in town and that things will be different

Repeal the international gag order- an executive order that Bush installed on his first day in office. This gag order denied access to US family planning assistance for abortions, counseling, or lobbying to provide access to abortion. (There is no evidence that this “helped” to decrease global abortion.)

I would like him to shut down torture of Guantanimo Bay prisoners, and to shut down the school of the Americas where we teach people how to torture.

Obama’s plan is to set up an economic stimulus package that extends unemployment benefits, give aid to states, increase food stamp benefits, implement middle class tax cuts and create new jobs. But even if nothing is accomplished and we remain in a holding pattern for four years, that would be better than the spiraling downward economy, loss of jobs, and lack of healthcare. We need to cut the trend, and start that long journey back up the hill, where we can see with fresh eyes, and a renewed vision. Give us hope that a new day has come.

Thank you for your vote, your campaign efforts, and your civic mindedness.

Blessed be.

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[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/us/politics/07text-clinton.html

[4] http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/06/microcosm/

[5] http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/06/microcosm/

[7] www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/story/750378.htm