Progressive Revival

The Election of Barack Obama was one month ago on Thursday.  What a difference a month makes.   We remember when we saw the words flash across the screen - President Elect, Barack Obama  - and the ecstasy that followed.   Yet much has been said about the demeanor of our next president when he took the stage in Chicago on Nov 4.  There was gravity in his demeanor - his smile bright but his words serious and humble.   In his speech he spent less time running the victory lap and more time reminding us that climbing out of the hole of the last eight years and the economic crisis was going to be hard work.

Obama has begun that work largely through his appointments to his cabinet.  He showed his priority and determination by starting with his economic team and then moving to international.  Some have complained that there are too many people left over from the Clinton years resurfacing in Obama's administration, or that Obama has tacked towards the center in his appointments.  But overall there is a sense that these men and women, including Senator Clinton, represent the strongest candidates available to bring our country together again and to put America on a strong footing - domestically and internationally.  

These appointments do not come as a surprise.  Obama always spoke of himself as a social justice realist when it came to politics, citing Reinhold Niebuhr as a philosophical guide.  In this time of crisis we need to rebuild upon the most solid of foundation.  Even keeping Robert Gates as secretary of defense provides a sense of continuity that feels right when viewed from the global perspectives.   When asked in his interview with Barbara Walters where the change comes from when he has appointed so many known entities Obama replied: "It will come from me."

I believe that.  For change to come we need people with experience positioned in areas where they can make Obama's vision for America a reality.   But while Obama will be a leader that many of us can believe in, the real work for change will have to come from each of us.  It will be hard work and it will require sacrifice.  But it is specifically the call for work and sacrifice from all Americans that, one month after the election, gives me what Obama promised during those many months of campaigning - Hope. 

Look at this young kid's face.  This is a photograph taken of one of the terrorists by Sebastian D'Souza.  He is so young and was so twisted.  It reminds me of my friend Eboo Patel and his book "Acts of Faith" that I reviewed for Beliefnet.  This is an excerpt of my review:

Nothing is more chilling than Patel's fictional recounting of how easy it might have been to have been seduced by radical ideology when he was young and alienated as so many young people currently are--and not only young people in Islam, but in Christian separatist movements such as the one that influenced Eric Rudolf as well as Jewish and Hindu extremists. In a chapter titled "Youth Programs" Patel describes the history and evolution of extremists in his own faith and how persuasive these groups can be. In speaking about Osama Bin Laden, Patel makes the particularly salient point that Bin Laden is, if nothing else, a brilliant youth organizer.

How can we stop this violence and reach our young people before it is too late?  I am haunted by this boy's calm killing face...

Terrorist attacks on Mumbai have provoked Meenakshi Ravi to write this on Huffingtonpost:

Four years ago, the Hindu-dominated, right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was dismissed from government by an Indian electorate that saw through its glossy 'India Shining' campaign propaganda. The BJP's loss was the compound effect of many of its failings, but the most glaring offense was its alleged involvement in the violent Hindu-Muslim clashes that erupted in the western state of Gujarat. For over four months, the state burned and people were killed on the grounds of their religious faith. In official records you would find that 1,044 people died as a result of the communal violence. Read the reports compiled by NGOs and human rights groups and you'd find that the figure was closer to 2,000.

The Mumbai attacks heighten the threat to the Indian secular state which is already battling internal threats to minority groups. It is easy to sell situations like this to the man on the street as an attack that threatens his community. The terror in Mumbai has struck during a year in which six Indian states are going to the polls. These are crucial elections for both main parties in India since the one that makes a stronger showing is likely to be on firm footing to make gains in the General Elections scheduled for May 2009. The BJP will probably leverage this climate of fear and uncertainty to make electoral gains. For the ruling Indian National Congress, the communal card will come in handy as a tool to paper over serious lapses in intelligence and national security during its watch.

The BJP has managed to maintain a strong anti-terror image with its constituency by riding on religious rhetoric and convincing its supporters that the party will protect their interests and ensure their safety. This, despite its lamentable record of not just the horrors of Gujarat in 2002, but other incidents that go further back, such as the mishandling of the 1999 Kandahar hijacking incident, and most infamously, the BJP-led demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992.

The Congress never had a hope of making light work of these state elections. A nervous economy and terror-struck populace was going to need serious convincing if some states were to be retained/won. The Mumbai terror attacks have made the Congress' work many times more difficult as it has struck fear in the hearts of the people and has reminded them of the indefensible performance by the party and the government it leads in the task of protecting Indians from terrorism.

More on Indian politics...