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• Wednesday, November 19, 2008 07:52 AM

  @Jim White, Paul Dirks and Obama's picks

  Jim, From what I see in the media about Holder’s nomination, it’s a done deal.

  Paul, you precisely expressed my feelings about Glenn. Tell me where on the blogosphere where you can find anyone with more of an open, non-ideological mind who relies so much on facts and does such thorough research. There may be a few who match him, none that surpass him.

  It is very clear that Obama has decided he wants smart, experienced people on his team. All of his picks so far, even Hillary should not be a surprise from what we heard Obama tell us about the government he wants and the kind of leader he would be. He wants and needs experience right from the start. His most significant theme that was signaled in his 2004 convention speech is unity. To convince the American people, not the progressive left, that he will listen and court all sides, he has to select people and make decisions that many of us don’t like, such as the infamous Lieberman decision to forgive and move on.

  Glenn’s number one theme is hypocrisy. What I want most from Obama is minimal or virtually no hypocrisy. Obama and those of us screaming on the left can’t have it both ways. We are hypocrites if that is what we expect. You are either a unifier or you are not. In times of such great national and world peril, I will be supporting decisions that unify and do not further divide our nation and the world.

  Obama has also said that he is leading a movement where the people will be listened to and have real power. We won’t know how much he really meant that until he is president. He should receive constant constructive criticism and pressure from the people if he and we are going to succeed in righting our listing ship. It is much too early to judge how successful he and his team will be.

  Rabbi Brad Hirschfield in his book, “You Don’t Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism,” gives us an insight that is going to guide me. A book reviewer on Amazon said that an alternative subtitle might be "A Practical Guide to Saving the World."

  There was a wonderful discussion on Monday on Chicago public radio’s Worldview show with Herschfield and a Christian theologian and Muslim community organizer discussing religion's role in the American public square. The three provided insights into a united playbook for solving a lot of American and World problems and were very inclusive of those who believe in no God or any specific organized religion. Here are the links to the audio of that program and the reviews on the book.

  http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=30217 (see sig)

  http://audio.wbez.org/wv/2008/11/wv_20081117.mp3 (audio download)

  http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0307382974/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

  The Right Wing makes its biggest mistake by believing that they can only be right by proving others wrong. People can maintain their beliefs and fully respect those of others. If we set as a goal that both sides in a conflict can seek a win-win resolution, we have a much greater chance of succeeding. When we insist on a win-lose outcome, we eventually end up with lose-lose.

  I believe this is what Obama means by being a unifier for our nation and the world. As he makes his decisions, I will be looking most at how those decisions bring us more together so we can use all of our talents to make the world for my grandchildren a great, unified adventure rather than a horror show.

  —Retired Military Patriot Read Retired Military Patriot's other letters
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