Buyer's Remorse

I'm beginning to have it. I wasn't expecting it to come at all, really, but that it comes this quickly surprises me all the more.

What is it exactly?

Well it's the pitfall into which so many great intellectuals stumble- it is the lack of appreciation for the temporal aspect of reality. They believe that a great idea is a great idea and thus stands outside the bounds of time and history as a universal truism. This is lofty stuff. And it works in doctoral theses. But in life - and in politics - it is just plain wrong.

Obama's nice-nice, his bipartisanship, his reaching out to other nations we've "dictated" to in the past. This would all be great stuff- if this were 2001.

September 12th 2001 was the day to rally good will, common purpose, and universal brotherhood.

But we didn't.

The result was that we pissed a lot of people off - both inside the country and out. And one of those "temporal" facts is that once you piss somebody off, it's not so easy to un-piss them off. They just stay pissed.

The emotion is a logical one. They are owed. They offered good will, were shunned, and now expect to be paid twofold. And what's more, rebuilding the trust that was shattered is something that may not happen at all.

George Bush's love affair with Eastern Europe at the expense of relationships with our more traditional allies- well this is like cheating on your wife with your secretary. Loyalty repaid with profligacy - this is grounds for divorce.

And just changing your tune is not enough. After all, 4 or 8 years hence, how do we know Don Rumsfeld won't emerge from the depths to lead the free world? I'm sure the world enjoys our current humility, but they've been waiting for six years, and it's going to take more than flowers and a nice card.

No, the rift between the US and the rest of the world, the exploitation of 9/11 for partisan gain, the revolting visuals of torture and humiliation, the senseless invasion, the bungled occupation, the financial meltdown- and all the rest -no amount of, "sorry honey, I screwed up" is going to balance it out.

Nor should it.

There are moments in history- 9/11 was one of them. These are opportunities to chart a new course for a nation - they are moments of "imprint vulnerability" in Lorenz's terminology. The course we set at that time was an errant one, but it is one we set nonetheless - and stubbornly followed for a long time. There's no going back. As momentous as Obama's election was, it was not such a moment in our history. We are at a nadir of our own making, hated by friend and foe a like. This is not a time to chart a new course but a time to reap what we have sowed - and what a poisonous crop it is.

On the foreign stage, the resentments and the hostilities have not been forgotten. And the "tests" predicted by Vice President Biden are coming to pass. They would have been there in any event, but tests are there to test strength and cojones. They are not the MCAT. They are not an abstraction. They are tests of emotional strength and emotional will. It is fully possible that Barack Obama doesn't get this.

My buyer's remorse - or let's just call it my almost-buyer's remorse - is that we have elected a community organizer while we are still bearing the momentum of a vicious partisan.

Politics is hardball. It's the real game, and the stakes are not theoretical. Emotional fortitude does count, and the ability to fight back when fighting is called for is essential. Obama has made humane gestures to express apologies for the sins of the past, but he has to know that those apologies will never be enough. Like it or not, he is George Bush's successor, and he will not be able to 'calm' his way out of that legacy.

Partisanship at home is of equal import to struggles abroad. In politics one has to fight. It is visceral, not intellectual. That Obama was made to look weak all this week, especially on the heels of his depressing and condescending inaugural address, does not bode well for his presidency. Where is he to tap his reserves of strength and popularity? He has no more fights to win to rally the troops, only muddy slogs ahead.

He squandered his triumphal moment in January, and he has not yet proven that he is up to the rough and tumble of US and world politicking. I hope I am wrong about this. Right now, there is no serious opposition to his leadership, because no professional politician is dumb enough to want to take over a sinking ship. The smart ones will give him whatever he wants and when things appear to be turning up, they will strike back. That's the game, and it never ends.

If Obama were smart, then, he would take this moment of non-opposition and pass his dream agenda. Decriminalizing Marijuana, Gay Marriage, and a whole bugger of pie-in-the-sky liberal fodder, just because he can.

It is hard to say it, but he needs to be more George Bush. Once Karl Rove rang that bell, it can not be un-rung. The genie of eviscerative partisanship is out of the bottle. You can't get the toothpaste of mean spirited undermining back in the tube.

At least not yet.

I think there is a lot to be said for restoring civility (if there ever was such a thing) to our political system. But at the very least, recognize that there is a continuity here, that the leftover grievances are not appeased by appearing weak. Act the part a little while longer. Be tough, bring the swagger for a little while. Then you can ramp it down. Obama didn't decisively turn the page on January 20th. That was his last best chance to turn over the system by an act of will. Now, by ceding and conceding, he has only raw effort to go on, and nobody's going to be excited about that.