Why Obama Has Me Worried

Here is the best case scenario: Mr. Obama, as he did often during the campaign, is patiently outwaiting his opponents. There is some plausibility to this scenario. He has been called "ceberal" as both a slight and a compliment, but it has often been earned because of his deliberate nature. But, if one were to take a machete to the media portrayal that he and his campaign have been loathe to challenge, what we really find is a very dangerous, Machievillian politician who plays a game of manuever. He does not come straight at his opponents until (a) he is ready and (b) they have put themselves in a weakened position. He realized Clinton's head-on health care strategy would be disasterous so he chose to let the legislature produce a bill, ultimately forcing them to compromise and make the bill not "his" in direct terms of ownership, but rather a bill under his stewardship...further enhancing his status. In fact, every legislation he has championed has followed this strategy. So, why am I nervous?

First, my analysis may be totally off and I am reading into his actions my own hopes and desires. Second, being president and running for president are not the same thing. Third, by definition his strategy of "listening" to all sides carries serious potential pitfalls. Republicans, conservatives, and authoritarians share in common the distinct ability to hierarchicalize power and decision-making in ways that come across efficaciously. Of course, this intensified consolidation and centralization carries the seeds of its eventual demise, but it does work. Obama, democrats/liberals, and any others unknowingly following Habermas' theory of rational discourse invite dissension, conflict, and tension as means to producing more powerful syntheses. The old dialectic. The risk, of course, is confusion, uncooperative factioning, and a weakened argument due to a lack or ambiguous center. This phenomenon is exacerbated by a 24-Hour news cycle and an internet rife with misinformation, angry Tea "Baggers," and the immediate replies opponents can launch.

I imagine health care will get passed by Christmas and Chanukkah, but at what cost and consequence? Will the Democrats pass this, raise the ire of the electorate and be run out town? Or, will their final show of cooperative effort be rewarded with minimal attrition? The mid-terms are a long way away and my short life has allowed me to internalize the fact that one month in political talk is a life time (think about how long ago the August Tea rebellion seems two months later). On the bright side, if Obama only succeeds in getting this legislation and the environmental legislation passed and then loses his congressional majority and eventually becomes a one-termer, I think we can say his presidency was a success. Certainly not what many hoped or envisioned; had you asked me, however, if we would have close-to-universal health care in my lifetime, I would have likely replied no. Now, if only we could just pull out of these wars....