Ruminating Out Loud

I have come to realize that a number of actions President Barack Obama takes require meditative reflection in order to grasp the full measure of the intention and desired outcome behind them. The hyperventilated punditry, which passes for media and analysis these days and has been so common place in the past some odd years, seems to be finding itself incapable of appreciating the strength of drive and the intellectual fortitude behind the decisions the president makes and the way he goes about executing them. He is a grand master; they, novice players of chess. They say great ones can see the whole game play itself out over multiple moves. They have a keen insight into the tango of action-reaction and move-counter move dances of thought and will played out on a chess board. I believe that the president exhibits similar characteristics in the arena of leadership and shaping public perception.

They said his inauguration speech was bland – lacking poetry and oratorical flourishes. These are the same people who were accusing him of being empty on specifics and all about speeches and words. They said words are easy, where is the beef. They had it really backwards. Whether you are chess player or a fighter in combat, understanding the opposing side and knowing the characteristics traits and tendencies give one the upper hand paving the way to a seamless victory. From the outset of his campaign for the presidency, he wrote and talked about the smallness of the politics as it was being practiced, which he believed was in direct contrast to the magnitude of the challenges facing the nation. He knew there was a yearning to believe again; to believe again in the yes-we-can mentality. There was a yearning for rekindling the hope and aspiration and dream of a world that could be in spite of the world as it is. There was a yearning for a political system that works; a system that is more capable of solving big problems than one engaged in a tit-for-tat game of blamocracy. There was also a generation yearning for inspiration to challenge oneself and provide meaning and purpose to life. He clearly knew that. He rightly sensed that the issue was not the absence of a multi-point policy prescription or a plan of one kind or another. He channeled the dreams and hopes of many and articulated his messages into melodic symphonies of words that are so uplifting, which leave the listeners levitated and overcome with emotions. That was one presidential campaigning and half.

Then, the inauguration arrived in a moment that is as equally challenging and intransigent for a system that is broken as it is to a people who have come to expect little from government. With the majority converted and the rest willing to lend a hearing, he was set with the challenge of communicating the hardship facing our nation while reminding us all of the glorious past and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that have been overcome in the unlikely experimentation is self-governance and organization that is America. The symbolic significance of his rise to the highest office in the land was self-evident in his image and needed no proclamation. In this regard, I was reminded of his acceptance speech for the democratic nomination in which he referred to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a young preacher from Atlanta, which the self-aggrandizing elements of the black community predictably riled up against. How could he dare not mention his name, they exclaimed. How could he shy away from the dark history of race relations in this country, they asked. When asked by Steve Kroft a similar question, the president in response said “I think people notice that… I think people understood the significance of that…” It is also that depth of insight not to blabber the obvious and let moments speak for themselves that characterized his inauguration speech. There was no need for poetry. Nor was there a need to engage in a collective-kumbaya-moment. The people who where there and the billions of eyes glued to their televisions knew the arrival of a new historical demarcation. They also knew that not only America, but also the world is amidst troubled economic times. The task at hand was not to provide an escape from that reality. It was one of facing challenges with grit and determination in the knowledge that this too shall pass. “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met,” he inspired a people.

Then, in recent past there have also been few examples where some of his decisions were met with a quick anger, only to be brought to light in their full significance with the advantage of  hindsight. A prime example is the mini-controversy around his selection of the Rev. Rick Warren for providing the invocation and opening prayers for the inauguration ceremony. Those on the left we fired up for all the wrong reasons. How could such a person be given a platform that is as grand as this, they asked. I sense that it was not lost on the president that the Rev. Warren believes in truths drawn from the strict adherence to the bible. What could a preacher of the bible be expected to believe in after all? Yet, I think it was also clear to him that Rev. Warren cares not just about issues such as gay marriage and abortion, which have lately been adopted as being defining litmus tests for what constitutes as christian and moral values, but also about those of social justice. The president realized the task at hand was to bring about more understanding and accommodation. Bridging the gap between those caring about one issue or another and getting them to come closer is what the president seems to be good at. I can not help but think that Rev. Warren was left touched by the gesture extended to him. I read somewhere that some of the less agreeable language was taken of his website in the aftermath his selection. I sense that those who were so offended by his  selection were probably better served by it than would have been otherwise. Then, the other day we heard that he granted the first formal interview as a president to an Arabic television network. Some found this odd and weak. But, he realizes the fight against the religious extremists is not just one of conquering land and military engagement. It is one of winning the hearts of those who are willing to listen. Such an action broadens the avenues of communication and provides a higher platform for engagement and understanding. It is precisely these types of actions that steal innocent minds from the dangerous brainwashing that is fed by the extremists to perpetuate their destructive agenda.

The distinguishing quality of the president, which should have become apparent to many long before, is that he is not afraid to face big challenges. I sense that he realizes greatness is not for the faintest of hearts; it is earned by those who see the significance and consequence of their actions in the immediate future, but also take them with a methodical and precise understanding of their effects in the long run. That is what makes him the chess player at heart and an effective leader. Those who continue to underestimate and lose sight of the less-than-obvious intentions and wit of the president find themselves as being a minor footnote of history as he continues to trail-blaze an uncharted path into greatness.