Fr. Jenkins on next campaign tour?
In the Notre Dame president’s remarks introducing President Obama at Sunday’s commencement, he gushed with praise for Obama’s accomplishments.
But look closely at his words…
He has set ambitious goals across a sweeping agenda — extending health care coverage to millions who don’t have it, improving education especially for those who most need it, promoting renewable energy for the sake of our economy, our security, and our climate.
Hold on….those are ambitious goals. But not yet accomplishments. Health care policy is still in the planning, as is education policy, as is energy policy.
He has declared the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and has begun arms reduction talks with the Russians.
Okay. Not to take anything away from the president’s ambitions and intentions…..the goal of a world without nuclear weapons is just about everybody’s (at least, people of goodwill).
He has pledged to accelerate America’s fight against poverty, to reform immigration to make it more humane, and to advance America’s merciful work in fighting disease in the poorest places on earth.
Noble goals all. And all forward looking, making them promises and aspirations. Still in the good idea phase but not yet in action or accomplishment.
As commander-in-chief and as chief executive, he embraces with confidence both the burdens of leadership and the hopes of his country.
As does every president when he is sworn into office.
This sounded a lot like a campaign rally as Jenkins warmed up for Obama.
It’s clearer why Arizona State University decided to withhold any honorary degree when Obama spoke there until the president builds a body of accomplishments in office worth honoring.
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During the Democratic primary of the last election I was on business in Valdosta, Georgia. One morning the hotel where I was staying had CNN on in the lobby and they were talking about the recent Jeremiah Wright tapes on YouTube. Two black people, one man and one woman, were talking to each other and hadn’t noticed me in the back. The man said something to the effect that the guy couldn’t catch a break, if not for his enemies, for even his friends. As they noticed me, the man walked off briskly. I told the woman that I was voting for Hilary but if Obama won, I was surely going to vote for him. Well, you would have thought I told her that the moon was made of cheese and NASA was gonna use it to fund space travel! Altho’ I had lived in the South for 15 years, I was still startled that blacks would be so taken aback by the fact that a white man was voting for a black man.
Look, Obama is not perfect. He will make mistakes and he will have accomplishments. But he is a legal scholar who has taught law in university. He has had to draft legislation and form alliances to get that legislation passed on the state level. And he has done something that noone has ever accomplished. Jesse Jackson, Alan Keyes, Al Sharpton all tried and failed. But Barack Obama campaigned against a former first lady and a true American war hero and won with a clear majority of the vote. And when that happened, the paradigm suddenly shifted for a lot of black and hispanic Americans. If you couldn’t play ball or run or play an instrument or write hip hop, you could go to school and be elected president of the United States. For black people in America this was not true on November 3, 2008. Suddenly black folks see themselves in a whole different perspective and the world sees the United States as truly the country where anything is possible. This accomplishment is worthy of honor, alone, in and of itself.
So you’re saying that no matter what else a person has done or promises to do, no matter what he stands for, no matter what— as long as he’s black and gets elected President, he should get honored.
That’s your criteria, huh? That’s pretty deep thinking.