ANIMOSITY, PART 3

A long email today, from a friend who confessed to being the source of the "Obama the Eunuch" remark that sparked what she called "a ruckus" in response. I read it, every word I promise, and with a great deal of sadness--in part because the attacks on Obama really do ring true to me, in some part of my own political consciousness; in part because I despair of ever getting past this mess we have created for ourselves. I would reprint my friend's long, thoughtful, and deeply felt critique, except that I don't have her permission and the arguments are by now uncomfortably familiar. We know them perhaps too well.

I did write briefly in response: "I hardly know what to say, where to begin, so I think I won't! It's not that I don't see where the anger and disappointment are coming from. I do. It's just that I don't see where it gets us, to dump it all off on Obama. It's not about him. It's about the America that elected him, the America that willingly, even eagerly contributed to the creation of this mess, the America that now works untiringly to reject and block him at every turn, the America that gets mad at him for not being who they wanted or expected. Obama is just a reflection of who we are. Too bad for us. Love, Peter."

I'm feeling burdened by the stagnant, foul-smelling stew of our political life. I keep telling myself it would be better to withdraw from it, to not watch, not read, not write about it at all, but rather to spend my time more profitably in quiet contemplation. Do a little navel-gazing! I don't know what keeps engaging me, despite all rational judgment to the contrary. I suppose I just feel an obligation to use what skills I have, both as a writer and those I have at least begun to learn from the dharma, and make a contribution to the alleviation of suffering in the world. But the few dollars I sent yesterday to relieve the threat of famine in Somalia probably do more...