State of the Union

A few days after the president’s State of the Union address leaves much to reflect on.

The president’s State of the Union address reminded me of what a great orator he is. I’ve been missing his preach-like speeches that hit right at the heart. He hasn’t given a speech like this since the campaign. The ending in particular was what really reminded me of his oratory skill. He was speaking to Congress, political leaders, but most importantly, he was speaking to the American people when he said this:

“We have finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But a new year has come. A new decade stretches before us. We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment — to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.”

Now, for all this talk about how Obama hasn’t been successful in his first year of office. Let me say two things:

(1) It has only been a year and, though some may say he’s taking on more than he can handle, he is bringing about the progression of changes that would have never occurred in the Bush Administration.

(2) He is changing the psychology of America. I do not have that continuous feeling that America is going on a downward spiral as I did two years ago. I feel much safer with Obama in office and am willing to give him the opportunity to bring the change that he promised.

The State of the Union’s focus, of course, was on jobs and the economy. The talk of the spending freeze, however, had a notable lack of response from the democrats or republicans. It is yet to be determined how this “spending freeze” is actually going to be carried out. But, I can hear the backlash now from the Republicans. They are definitely going to be criticizing him about the fact that it took him a year to finally cut down government spending. They might say it is too late.

This is the backlash that Obama criticized so pointedly. He criticized both democrats and republicans on the partisan debate that has served to create deadlock in Congress. He criticized Republicans for always saying “no,” which, he said, doesn’t amount to being great leaders. And, he criticized Democrats for not having a spine and running for the hill when things get hard. The unity we once had after 9/11 is no more. And, although I know that partisanship will never end, I hope that, as Obama said, we can join together more often towards ideas and policies that will only serve to benefit America.

The best part of the speech occurred when Obama said he was going to try to bring an end to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy enacted by the U.S. Military. This is a definite step in the right direction, but is it enough?

It’s a step in the right direction, but President Obama needs to make an even bigger one. He needs to take up the issues of homosexuals in America and begin to support their right to marry. This is the Civil Rights issue of the 21^st century and, if Obama were to take it into his hands, it would be the defining moment of his presidency. There will no doubt be harsh criticism, but there will be even greater praise. People who believe in basic civil liberties would rally for him. Taking such a strong stand on an issue would finally show that Obama isn’t a president who lets go of all of his beliefs just because people disagree.

It is wrong for this country to deny so many people this basic right, and Obama needs to start believing that. Some may say it might be too soon and too much for Obama in his first term and I understand and somewhat agree with this. However, I hope that sooner rather than later that this issue will finally be given the attention it deserves.

Samantha Power, A Public Intellectual?

I haven’t formally welcomed you to my blog and given a reason behind the title. So, welcome, and here’s the reason.

Samantha Power, who is a public intellectual in the best definition of the word, inspired the title “EFFECTIVE RESPONSE”. She is the author of A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide where she discusses the numerous genocides of the 20^th century and America’s response to those acts of genocide. For the most part, effective response has not been a part of the equation. American presidents and policy makers have chosen not to respond; they have chosen inaction. The lack of military response to end genocide is a serious problem that Power’s criticizes in her book and continued to criticize through various freelance articles she has written for prominent newspapers and magazines.

This is the essential quality of public intellectuals according to Stephen Mack in his blog posting, “The ‘Decline’ of Public Intellectuals?”:

“If public intellectuals have any role to play in a democracy—and they do—it’s simply to keep the pot boiling. “

If that is the true definition of a public intellectual, then Samantha Power fits into this mold. As a journalist, a Pulitzer prize winning author, and a Harvard professor, she has not only kept the pot boiling about America’s response to genocide, she has also kept the pot boiling about the need to Save Darfur (even getting then Senator Obama to take up the cause), the need to keep United Nations workers in foreign countries safe, and the need for a more effective way to talk to terrorists/foreign leaders (an idea with which she even advised Obama on during his campaign).

Samantha Power found herself believing in Obama. She joined his campaign in 2008 before having to resign after calling Hillary Clinton a “monster” during the primary election. Nevertheless, her faux pas didn’t do her any harm. She was appointed senior director for multilateral affairs for the National Security Council in January 2009.

Some may say that since Power has forged this relationship with Obama and received a job in his administration, that it discredits her as a public intellectual. Because of her close relationship, she can no longer address and criticize the problems of American society. Essentially she is now one of the people in power who could be a part of the problem.

According to many, true public intellectual’s are those who refrain from being in positions of power. Their main/only purpose in society is to stir discourse and debate on issues that they deem important. Power can no longer “keep the pot boiling” because she now has a biased opinion and certain loyalties to the president.

However, I deem that the role of the public intellectual cannot be so passive. There has to be action sooner or later. They cannot always be the referee without ever trying to get into the game. Public intellectuals have to be critical and keep the pot boiling, but the boiling pot needs to come to some sort of end result. There needs to be a reason to criticize contentious issues. Debate is nothing without a way to start effecting some change. This is exactly what Samantha Power is doing.

Is she no longer a public intellectual? Has she lost her role in society? In my opinion, her role has remained intact and has become even better.

As Stephen Mack says in the same blog post mentioned above, “Barack Obama is an intellectual’s dream leader. The erudite and cosmopolitan writer who became a real life philosopher-king, Obama exists seemingly to test the proposition that intelligence and a cool reason that does not so much displace passion as it does harness it, are suitable tools for democratic leadership.”

In the end, Samantha Power has found her dream leader.

By accepting her job and serving as a close aide, she has elevated her public intellectual role into a more advanced purpose. She can finally give her ideas to a leader who can/will do something about contentious societal factors that she has so effectively asked to be changed.



Hope for Haiti

First post and I wanted to make it worthwhile. My EFFECTIVE RESPONSE is to encourage all of you to donate whatever you can to Haiti. The Hope for Haiti Now Telethon, brought together by George Clooney, was broadcast on 17 networks. Numerous celebrities and musicians were there to encourage people to donate to Haiti. The videos on the telethon and in the news the past week have been extremely devastating. There is a lot of work to be done.

I have been extremely astounded by the amount of support people have been showing to Haiti. It just goes to show that humans have this incredible ability to join together to help others. They have joined together now to SAVE HAITI.

Donate now at http://www.hopeforhaitinow.org…give whatever you can.

-stephanie