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Obama hautnah – Unterwegs mit dem Pr?sidenten (Obama up close – Traveling with the President) I watched this show this evening on Pro Sieben the German channel. It is a National Geographic show that was also shown in the UK as Obama's White House, I would assume it aired in America first although I could not find a link on the National Geographic website for it. I bring this up because as I was watching the show it hit me how much of a caricature our president has become both Obama and Bush before him. It is easy listening to the rhetoric on TV to forget that both men are at heart normal guys like us and the caricatures we see on the news and internet make it easy to dehumanize them.I bring this up because I thought my insight was a great way to remind us all that we may dislike someone's politics but that does not mean we have to have a personal animosity for someone we disagree with. As I was watching the show I kept thinking that I would probably not mind having a beer summit with Obama if we could avoid talking about politics. I bet we could easily spend hours complaining about the BCS or any number of other non-political topics. My point is that even thought we may disagree with somebodies politics we should realize that in the end we are just normal folks. By the way, I had this same insight in both Bosnia and Iraq. It is easy to stereotype, our biggest task as thinking people is to not try to slot folks into positions. (Yeah, I know I am guilty of it to sometimes)
I have thought the same about the likability of both Obama and Bill Clinton. I have also long thought that if Obama were a conservative, he would be an awesome politician since he's so good at politics (at least he was during the his '08 campaign). Nowadays, when I start feeling badly for Obama the person because of the criticism he receives, I am usually woken out of my sympathy when I find out that he sets America back by enacting some broad liberal policy with the stroke of his pen.
There's a difference between disagreeing but still liking and disagreeing because it goes against everything you stand for and you look at it as harmful, dangerous, and/or damaging. Sorry, but there's nothing I like about progressives.
I guess I am talking more about separating the political philosophy from the man. I dont think that I have to personally dislike someone because they support policies I abhor. I could have a beer summit with Obama, we probably wouldn't talk about race and I would still rather have a beer with Bush. I just think it is kind of sad that apparently many people cannot have philosophical differences sith a person without personal hatred anymore. That kind of myopia poisons the well of politics as much as the grandstanding that encourages it on the first place. Luckily, my not-so-cynical side says that many Americans can indeed understand the difference and it is only the loudmouth boors that get all the air time in the media.
I guess I am talking more about separating the political philosophy from the man.
I don't think you can do that because political philosophy is usually based on a person's belief system. I have no problem with a "liberal" or "democrat" who may not take politics as seriously as I do. But when it comes to moral philosophies, like hardcore abortionists or gay activists, it's difficult to engage or want to engage civilly. Maybe it's just me, but I cannot separate philosophy from the person.
I think there are plenty of people in life who I could get along with personally even though I despise their politics. In fact, I think that is pretty typical for anyone who has friends. The trick is simply to avoid talking politics with those people so as to avoid a fight.
The trick is simply to avoid talking politics with those people so as to avoid a fight.
Then you would do well talking to Germans. Almost all my German friends try to get me to talk politics with them and I invariably refuse. The average German that I know just cannot even fathom the way an American conservative thinks. I think they really do believe that we go around shooting each other at random in America. Their concept of what constitutes personal freedom is what I call undue governmental interference; yet strangely at the same time they can get worked up over Google taking pictures of their house for Streetview. The only Germans I know with a realistic idea of America are those that have lived there or worked around them for a good long while.While I agree there are some people with views I despise that their views define them as people and therefore deserving of my despite. I generally think that most liberals just don't think about the bigger view of the consequences of the policy's they advocate. I really think that modern liberals are just incapable of thinking long-term about anything. That is why liberalism is so enticing to the younger generation, kids don't think long-term either. It is all instant gratification with both teenagers and liberals.
