Why I Disagree with Hedges and Nader on Obama
by: Rabbi Michael Lerner on March 4th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Many of the specific failures highlighted by the article I linked to Tuesday by Chris Hedges criticizing the performance of the Obama Administration are legitimate points. But the way Hedges’s positions are stated, and the conclusions drawn from them are not the path of spiritual progressives, in my view. There was too much anger in his statement overshadowing our spiritual progressive commitment to compassion and to a spirit of generosity toward others with whose politics we disagree. And not enough sympathy for the problems anyone would face trying to get elected as President and to repair the damage of the past 30 years.
I have great respect for Chris Hedges, as one of the very few people who was a respected journalist at the New York Times and subsequently left the Times in protest of the way they ignored those of us in the anti-war movement who were warning about the lies of the Bush Administration and opposing the use of violence to achieve US ends in the Middle East, and because I am grateful that he has written a brilliant article in Tikkun on the Obama Brand and has accepted our invite to speak at our conference in D.C.
Yet in this post I want to state places where I disagree with Hedges article, although I do at first affirm some things that are right about Hedges’ position even while I don’t affirm the tone and style of his communication (which, to be fair to him, was written for a different venue and not at all like the more nuanced pieces he has put into Tikkun magazine). I hope you read this through to the end, even while grumbling that it is too long (I know, but here is a basic truth about communication: if you are referencing ideas that are already popular in the culture, you can do so with a short slogan; but if you are trying to introduce new ideas that do not resonate with the “established wisdom” or “common sense” of the culture, it often takes a nuanced discussion that is longer — and hence the nuanced position may feel too long to people who have been accustomed to the dumbing down of popular discourse by the media and the politicians.)
Despite what Chris Hedges wrote, I have met Obama personally and privately on several occasions and do not believe he is a liar or a conscious manipulator. I do not agree with the decisions he has made since he won the Democratic nomination for President, and particularly after he became President, and I’ve gone out of my way to communicate in a clear, firm way those criticisms, and to do so in a positive language that showed exactly what he could do to change his approach.
I have posted the rest of this long statement on our Current Thinking site along with Hedges’s article, many of your responses to that article and your responses to this one of mine (which I emailed out to our list before posting here), so please check them all out there.
Going with the Green Party vs. reforming the Democratic Party:
I would like to make a comment based on my experiences living in Canada where there is a New Democratic Party to the left of the Liberal and Conservative Parties. The NDP has been represented at the federal level of government since I have lived in Canada and has sometimes been the dominant party at the provincial level. Yet, rather than leading the way towards real change, the NDP is often mired in its own ideology. The fact that the NDP has not had my support for over 20 years is a measure of how much it has marginalized itself.
I therefore doubt that a third political party in the U.S. will, by itself, bring the deep changes needed there. It will not eliminate the need for citizens to be very conscientious in choosing political candidates to support and in evaluating the actions of those candidates who are elected. Rejecting the reform of the Democratic Party may just mean putting off work that will eventually have to be done for the Green Party or some other political party. My understanding of spiritual progressivism is that the goal is not the triumph of the Left, but a transformation in the way people act socially and politically.
It is curious that those who have really no idea about how things work in this country or even in the greater awareness of spirituality display impatience and anger when things seem to be against their expectations. How many times have we been rescued from certain danger? I say it is curious because faith has to be lived in the midst of chaos most of the time and it is that experience that not only builds faith but also brings about the very changes you are seeking.
Obama: I was mad, impatient, disappointed, ready to turn and run, and then I realized that I wasn’t displaying any faith at all. I was behaving as the mixed multitude did in this week’s Torah portion Ki Tisa when Moshe did not come back soon enough. Boom right away they want their idols and almost succeed in destroying everything if not for the kindness of Moshe and the foresight of Aaron.
We would all do well to emulate these giants of spirituality. We are pikers compared to them. Therefore when I think about this week’s Torah portion in context of Obama, health care and everything else I realize that everything is going to work out just fine. From now on those who decry this and that I will view as a mixed multitude.
As Moshe said those who are for Hashem stand with me. Well just so you know I just crossed over and I will never return.
Many blessings to the faithful whose faith is that mountain Sinai forever remembering to do all that Hashem has asked us.
I wonder about the possibility of a another leader besides Moses. A bunch of the flock chose to follow him because he told them everything they wanted to hear. They went off into the Sinai and were never heard from again. Therefore their story was not written into the Torah. My lack of knowledge of both the Old and New Testaments is vast, but I do believe there is a verse that says, “Beware of false prophets.”