Barack Obama has a poor track record in getting people elected, and yet he continues to lecture America on what we should be doing to bring our nation together.
In principle, I agree, but in practice, what Obama is asking for is not cooperation at all.
In Obama’s speech Thursday to his own Democracy Forum, Obama pushed the concept of pluralism.
By definition, pluralism is a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.
The key here is coexistence with those who may not agree with your own political views.
I’ve been advocating for that for quite some time, and I’ve pointed out that leadership on both sides fails this test by punishing compromise.
We’ve gotten to the point where those who didn’t support the results of the last election are shaving their heads and wearing blue bracelets. To them, their positions are more important than finding common ground with those who disagree.
Many were advocating that Thanksgiving dinner should not be shared with anyone who voted for Donald Trump. Celebrities who have been preaching to us on social media on who we should vote for decided to take a break from being online. This is just another way to avoid listening to anything that might be different than their own views. Strange how they want you to listen to them, but they have no interest in listening to you.
Obama’s message to listen to the other side is laudable, but the problem is how he framed it.
Much like celebrities, what he meant is more people should be listening to his side.
Obama never mentioned Donald Trump, but he alluded to what his side believes about Trump. He mentioned that while we should listen to one another, “using the judiciary or criminal justice system to go after political enemies” is crossing a line.
Really?
Why, then, when Obama was president did he use the intelligence agencies to spy on FOX News reporters and on the Trump campaign?
Was he chastising his former vice president for using the criminal justice system to drum up sham charges against Trump for having documents at his Florida home and for aiding other offices in New York and Georgia to create additional charges at the state level as an insurance policy that could circumvent federal control should the Democrats lose?
Obama is correct in saying the use of the courts and the criminal justice system is crossing a line, but he stopped short in holding his own side accountable.
This is the problem with the pleas for pluralism. The only way to legitimize the claim is to look at your own party and call it out for the abuses it has done. Otherwise, what is really being proposed is projection, and while accusing the other side of about to do what you’ve been doing for years, you also toss in that working together is the only path forward.
Of course, by working together Obama means convincing Republicans to support the Democrats’ proposals.
He let it slip by saying, “It’s about recognizing that in a democracy, power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions … not only for the woke, but also for the waking.”
He didn’t say wokeness had gone too far. He simply wanted the woke to know they can’t get what they want unless they convince others to support them.
To Obama, coalition building is simply convincing others to come to your side.
That’s not what plurality is.
Plurality is coexistence, meaning that another point of view is just as valid as your own.
Plurality is being able to say to another group that while you do not agree with their view, they have the same rights that you have to express their view.
Plurality is being able to get with a group of people that do not all agree and come to a consensus on an outcome that allowed all involved to have a seat at the table and input in the final plan, even when part of that plan is not what you wanted.
Obama used pluralism as a way to masquerade as someone willing to tolerate others while only believing the reason to do it is to convince them to support your point of view.
Pluralism is not that easy. Partisanship is much easier. As partisans, we only need support our view. We need not listen to anyone else or even pretend that there is any validity in the view of others.
That’s why Obama said the woke must bring along the “waking.”
Notice he did not say there are anti-woke elements in our society that deserve the same validity as the woke.
Notice he didn’t condemn the cancel culture coming from the left against anyone who disagrees with their world view.
His message was not magnanimous. It was simply intended to try to restore the Democratic Party coalition that has been split by the woke and the far left movement.
Obama’s message was an attempt to convince the socialist left and the woke left and the liberal left to work together to reform their coalition. Conservatives had no seat at the table Obama was setting.
This was the shortsightedness of the Obama presidency and its continuing legacy. While Obama had the best opportunity to build a bridge on race relations and political divisions, he chose to create a litmus test requiring social justice at its core, and only those who can pass that test will have a voice.
Racial division and economic division increased during Obama’s tenure, and with Biden it has not improved.
For Democrats to recover from the political losses suffered in November, they need to do more than try to recover the loss of disillusioned factions within their own party they themselves created.
From pitting women against trans women and legal immigrants against illegal immigrants, they crumbled their tribalist attempts. And now, they want to convince us that pluralism is necessary. It always has been, but it seems they forgot that when they had the keys to the kingdom. Will they ever be able to listen to opposing views? History has shown that is not likely.
Earl Watt is the owner and publisher of the Leader & Times in Liberal, Kansas. Watt started his career in journalism in 1991 at the Southwest Daily Times. During his career, the newspaper has won a total of 17 Sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association for editorial content and 18 Sweepstakes awards for advertising. Watt has been recognized with more than 70 first place awards for writing in categories from sports and column to best front pages, best sports pages and best opinion pages. Watt is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is the descendant of several patriots who fought for America's freedom and independence.
