tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1479443303357482738.post4905173606690235194..comments2009-04-08T01:05:44.872-04:00Comments on Mileposting ::Miles Logged::: Part 1: Obama's Post-Partisan Vision and the Unspoken Promisemileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11507686405859891062noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1479443303357482738.post-13348073503147203922009-02-16T11:36:00.000-05:002009-02-16T11:36:00.000-05:00Yeah I think Obama's rhetoric must necessarily be ...Yeah I think Obama's rhetoric must necessarily be less dreamy than it was during the campaign. He's definitely going to experience many potent reality checks. Yes, "will change come" is a good question, but a better one is "what is change" altogether. What really interests me is that he never clearly defined his idea of "post-partisan change" even though he got about 77 million votes for simply suggesting it. In my next few posts I attempt to wade through his smoke screen rhetoric and extrapolate what he might actually mean by post-partisan change in the first place and further, how he might be able to implement it in reality. Only after we actually define "change" can we start to judge whether "change will come" ourselves.mileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11507686405859891062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1479443303357482738.post-61339661093615056942009-02-16T09:21:00.000-05:002009-02-16T09:21:00.000-05:00"Will change come?" is a good question. Even Obama..."Will change come?" is a good question. Even Obama himself seems unsure about this. On the campaign trail he portrayed himself as a man of hope. Now his speaches carry somewhat of a doomsdayish undertone. More than once he's publicly said something like "I didn't plan on having to deal with this mess...". Kinda childish to say something like that isnt it? I'll tell you, hearing that doesn't sound like the same Obama that we heard before November and it sounds like he himself might be a bit worried about fulfilling that dream of his which was the campaign-centric idea of change that carried him to victory.<BR/><BR/>Chris (from the iPod) ^_^Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1479443303357482738.post-65520399858905326992009-02-14T00:20:00.000-05:002009-02-14T00:20:00.000-05:00I love the post- prefix.. post-bop in the 60's is...I love the post- prefix.. post-bop in the 60's is my favorite period in jazz ^_^ The funny thing is that my understanding of jazz has helped me formulate my theory on postpartisanship. Namely, the post- of something doesn't mean it is mutually exclusive of that which came before, but rather it is a subsumption by which both elements coexist and operate together at the same time. So yeah, post-something doesn't really mean moving PAST something that came before, it's just adding to it. I'm not trying to be mister smartypants; this concept is central to what I will write in my coming installments.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, let's get to it. I don't want to say too much here because I barely scratched the surface with this post, but I can't resist testing the waters just a little..<BR/><BR/>I agree that Obama's goal was to get the Democratic base to eat up his rhetoric, but that's what every politician hopes to do; he just does it exceptionally well, even better than Ms. Palin (ugh). As I argued in this post, the real reason why he hasn't been challenged to define postpartisanship is because he gives everyone plenty to chew on already, namely what it should not be; it's the power of unspoken words at work.<BR/><BR/>Yes, the people's expectations are high as a result, but I don't think most people (including the media) even know what it is they're expecting. Nor do I, but that's precisely why I'm writing these posts. As I will argue in my next installment, postpartisanship does NOT mean "political equity" or bipartisanship, as you and most pundits out there suggest. Political equality, as it were, IS bipartisanship, which has nothing to do with postpartisanship in principle. I plan to define and explore this notion in great depth, so please resist disagreeing with me until I do!<BR/><BR/>In any case, it is much too early to judge whether Obama is really an empty suit. If his professed "change" comes, it will not come for some time even after he gets past his current troubles. But even if postpartisanship did one day begin to emerge, would people even know how to recognize it? This is why I intend to propose a metric in my final installment by which we can judge whether he is really being postpartisan or not. Actually, so far everything he has done fits into my model, including Obama's blatantly partisan behavior AND bipartisan gestures to date. HA Obama take that! Your power of unspoken words won't work on me!mileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11507686405859891062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1479443303357482738.post-8125028079353013772009-02-13T15:56:00.000-05:002009-02-13T15:56:00.000-05:00When I hear a made up term that starts with "post"...When I hear a made up term that starts with "post" I shudder a little bit. Maybe its recall from art school encounters with post-modernism, but I'm cynical to any claim of moving past a behavior/belief/whatever.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, Obama has always been quick to subtlety embrace and encourage his Messianic following and appeal. I believe he started his Democratic Nominee acceptance speech with the words "Today is the day the seas cease to rise..." (or something like that). The media has been eager to reenforce this perception. So a label like "Post-Partisan," which implies he's transcends partisanship, is neither surprising to come from the media nor that Obama hasn't corrected it.<BR/><BR/>I don't think it is a calculating move to give him the freedom to govern. I think its a natural hyperbolic extension of the high expectations of his supporters, and the perception of Obama he has actively nurtured. <BR/><BR/>This image may translate to political equity, but beyond that I don't think it buys him any additional freedom. His first month in office and the trouble he is having with staffing shows that the promise of change can be just as crippling as any philosophy; made up labels or otherwise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com