stirred, not shaken

Music: Marconi Union: Tokyo (2009)

I'm trying to prep a lecture tomorrow on Nancy Fraser's critique of the public sphere and Angela Ray's deployment of the concept of "public culture." Basically, for my undergraduate class in celebrity I'm using Angela's work on the lyceum as a corrective to public sphere theory (Angela brings feelings and diversity back to the "table," so to speak, with her discussion of politics and public spectacle). All I can think about, however, is Obama's speech tonight to the joint session.

(And the police helicopters that keeps circling over my condo complex; I'm out here on the patio smoking a stogie . . . searchlight keeps flashing around . . . crap . . . maybe I should go inside?)

Since the inauguration I have been increasingly cynical of Obama's rhetoric, which seemed too cliché-ridden and too ubiquitous . . . . Yet as my buddy Mirko said on the phone tonight, "when the stakes are high, he always delivers." My god, that was a good speech. And you'll rarely hear me type that.

Technically the speech did all the things it needed to do. Obama finally put an end to the myths and rumors (I think). The judgment to have a speech like this was, in the end, the right call. But what was so good, what was so refreshing to hear, came at the end: the issue of heath care is a moral issue. And the calculation for how to say this was dead-on: he moved from policy to eulogy.

This is a classic move: George W. Bush did it repeatedly after Nine-eleven, as did numerous politicians after Gerson led the way. Nine-eleven became a golden calf of mournful calls to action. The appeal to atrocity became abusive. And this is the context in which Obama decided to eulogize Ted Kennedy.

It could have gone horribly wrong. It could have been cheap. But it wasn’t. You could see it in Obama's face. You could hear it in the tone of his voice. When Obama started to talk about Kennedy's moral conviction driving his policy struggles, one could sense the room was tense. But then Kennedy the calculating, technical politician faded to Kennedy the good Christian. And then, the goodness of Christianity---that thing about Christianity that has been a force for good in this country: charity, compassion, brotherly and sisterly love---quickly eclipsed the instrumental. Obama moved from Kennedy's motive to national motive: health care reform is a moral duty. He even talked about character.

This is fair persuasion. It wasn't manipulative; the message seemed sincere and genuine. You can disagree with policy all you want, but I think the president did a good job of saying his---and our---heart is in the right place.

I will confess I still have a hard, cynical outer casing. That "personal responsibility" speech to school kids, while well intended, did nothing but reinforce that casing. Obama is neo-liberal, no question. But when even my cynical self gets a lump in its throat, something is connecting to my soft, admittedly idealist, core. My response to this speech, and the reason I think it was so well done, is emotional. Obama got righteous, but in the right way, in a way that wasn't cheap or cloying or . . . cynical. I could go on, but I think I'll have to mull on the right way to capture why this speech hit the sweet spot. It has something to do with not hitting the sweet spot at all, for cutting through the tactics to the feeling behind policy.

I'm sure in the morning I will have re-thunk and re-trenched into my critical self. After all, that's what I'm paid to do. But I will give it up when "it" is warranted. I think this speech made reform inevitable. It may not be the reform we want, but after that damn speech, something will happen. Good job, Mr. President. Good. Job.

(Oh, and the police helicopter has stopped. Someone was shooting a gun. Densely populated area. Fortunately, the area is across the creek from me.)