Health care compromize and More Professor Gates

Healthcare compromise, Partisanism, Racism again visible

I see members of congress have managed to put a small portion of their “irreconcilable differences” aside long enough to make some compromises on healthcare reform. Any progress is welcome since the current conditions are not acceptable. In the end though, the most important consideration was cost. No elected official is willing to publicly admit the only solution is a tax increase. The threat to their personal power base and the support from their party weighs heavier than their commitment to public service. Not one has (to my knowledge) publicly said health reform was important enough to risk his/her re-election over. President Obama appears to see the personal costs paid by victims of the current healthcare system and is pushing hard for the reform we need.

Way back in high school, I wrote a paper about the development of political parties in this country. I did not see it then but in recent years I have grown to see many failures of the party system as practiced in this country. In order to achieve election success the vast majority of politicians must have access to the parties’ war chests and the incumbent power base. The person with an independent viewpoint and the personal strength to stand by it has no chance on the large scale political arena. The successful politician has to be willing to sell out to one or the other parties in order to be elected. He or she then has the parties’ leaders in his head writing his speeches, controlling his appearances, designating his votes and effectively pulling his strings. The sound bite is the primary political tool. President Obama has shown more independence than any president in my memory. The remark about the police department that arrested Professor Gates shows a willingness to say what’s on his mind – however misguided or misinformed. Unlike a normal politician who avoids confrontation and keeps his bridges well protected from fire, President Obama seems to want to make a difference in his first and probably only term. Re-election is not his goal. Making a difference in the lives and future of the American people is his applaudible goal. Even if your party wants him gone, you have to respect his goals on a personal level.

The arrest of Professor Gates will not go away. As a white person who grew up seeing “black” and “white only” signs over public water fountains and restrooms I can see how much racism has been eroded in this country. I think I see a rebound effect lurking deep within this incident. Professor Gates’ ethnic heritage is much closer to the surface than he would have admitted before this encounter. In the heat of the moment he fell back on this heritage as a personal explanation of what was happening to him. The officer, not having this heritage, did not understand the Professor’s actions or reactions. As I said in an earlier post, the officer’s training required him to seize control of the situation quickly. An unruly (in the officer’s point of view) person needs to be controlled. The most effective means was arrest. As long as living people remember the past at such a core level we will experience these incidents. We need to work toward real understanding and away from the blame. Continuing to keep the incident in the spotlight after a couple of days is counter-productive.

Think about this: In the digital display of the history of racial mistreatment in this country this is but a pixel on a huge bitmap, inconsequential except at a microscopic viewpoint. It makes absolutely no difference in the appearance of the whole picture. Let it go people. We have more important things to worry about.