Thursday, July 15, 2010

Fierce Urgency of Patience

POSTED BY JHW22

Looking back on the Obama campaign, I think there were two major blunders in their messaging that sounded great at the time but have become a problem for the administration.

1) Thinking that the MLK phrase "The fierce urgency of now" wouldn't confuse the instant-gratification-psychosis of Americans. Many either didn't hear or have forgotten when Obama also said "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term." And now the fierce urgency (aka impatience) of America is biting the Obama Administration in the butt.

I have a preschooler who asks to do B so I'll say, "Yes, after we finish A". Emotional chaos ensues because he equates "wait" with "no". That is how America is acting toward Obama. If he hasn't accomplished each American's personal agenda by now, they react as if waiting equals never. Add to that the unwillingness of my son or Americans to listen and process, and we face a lot of unnecessary chaos.

As I tell my son, waiting does not mean no, but tantrums make the wait longer and more unbearable.

2) Saying the campaign wasn't about Obama but about US spoke to the me-me-me psychosis of America . He repeatedly reminded Americans of our role in our government. He was absolutely correct and it was something I appreciated. But now, not so much. Now each American thinks they now control each decision, priority and sentence coming out of the governing process. Should we play a role? Definitely. But the phrase "too many cooks in the kitchen" is an understatement when every American thinks that he or she alone can demand and condemn the White House without considering any other American's demands. Three-hundred-million Americans can't all have it their way. Again, it's like my preschooler who wants to play with his friends and his toys until the friends want to play with the same toys.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39772.html

6 comments:

JUDI M. said...

Great post, by the way.

I mentioned the other day that I thought this country was becoming one gigantic kindergarten; my way, my turn, me first, throw tantrum, blame the dog (or the other side), make fun of those different than me or worse off, laziness, inability to learn anything new (unless we get lollipop), main concern is the here-and-now, and throwing shit around.

Did I cover everything?

jhw22 said...

I think you covered everything. And it's nice we're on the same page.

Jennifer

Armadillo Hussein Joe said...

You have described to a T the infantile nature of our politics generally, and what I believe to be the central driving force behind the stampede to ever more "conservative" politics over the last four decades.

Since the GOP can deliver terse phrases that appeal to the impatient American lizard brain ("strong defense" "lower taxes" "traditional families" "moral values"), they will always come out on top in a struggle to win people over, especially since they have a message machine orders of magnitude larger than anything on the left.

Armadillo Hussein Joe said...

You have described to a T the infantile nature of our politics generally, and what I believe to be the central driving force behind the stampede to ever more "conservative" politics over the last four decades.

Since the GOP can deliver terse phrases that appeal to the impatient American lizard brain ("strong defense" "lower taxes" "traditional families" "moral values"), they will always come out on top in a struggle to win people over, especially since they have a message machine orders of magnitude larger than anything on the left.

jhw22 said...

Thanks, Joe. Your comment was so nice it posted twice.

Jennifer

Anonymous said...

You are on a roll, Jen

Desert Crone

 
ShareThis