I've "tagged" you in a "blog meme." This means you have to write a post about your earliest political memory - I'm not sure what the penalty for ignoring this is, but it's bound to be something terrible.
[Here's his.] Well, far be it from me to risk something terrible happening to me. Especially when the threat comes in a British accent, which, when not foppish and fey, can be quite sinister!
My earliest political memories come in montage version. I cannot claim to remember anything from Nixon's America, and I am not certain anyone remembers anything of the Ford experience. But I do recall bits and pieces from the Carter years. And I certainly remember seeing episodes of All in the Family, which probably introduced me to political culture as much as anything else in those days. I remember Mrs. Carter coming to my home town when she was First Lady and my little brother being excited to meet "Mrs. Washington" (he was about four as I recall). I remember the hostage crisis vividly, most notably my Mom owning a t-shirt depicting Mickey Mouse flipping the bird with the caption: "Hey, Iran!", which naturally was the greatest thing I had ever seen.
Even cooler is that I just found the image online.
By the 1980 I was nine and can clearly remember wanting Carter to lose and supporting Reagan, to the point where I was a budding political cartoonist and could do a pretty mean Reagan, usually involving him threatening to bomb someone and asking for jellybeans, both proclivities I supported at the time. Within a year of his election, however, I came to my senses. I was a liberal Democrat by 1982. I was eleven.
So my earliest memories come from the Carter years, but my political awareness emerged with the Hostage Crisis. I was eight when this played out on my little tv screen in our house on a cable-free dirt road in Newport, New Hampshire, so by my own recollection I was not especially politically precocious. I do have clear memories of sports, and especially baseball and the Red Sox that antedate my political memories or concerns, so I guess that particular path was already cleared even when I was young.
8 comments:
I am a former Catsam student and have tried to keep up with your blog since graduation a few years back. Since I don't have the priveledge of attending your classes anymore, I would love for you to post on your thoughts on Barack Obama if at all possible, or if you should feel compelled. Located in the center of Conservatism, your liberal views were always refreshing and a bit comical at times, seeing as how most of my classmates could not understand. I am aware that just b/c you are liberal, you don't necessarily endorse Obama, however with your vast knowledge of race relations, I would love to hear what you truly think of the man and his ideas.
Anon --
Thanks for the kind words. The one thing that surprises me is that my liberalism comes across in class -- I'm not denying it, because if you saw it, you saw it, but generally I try to stay pretty apolitical in class. I suppose it would come across in civil rights or African history courses more than in, say, the survey. I certainly try not to badmouth or even critique the other side in anything related to current politics. Oh well. Guess I need to keep working on that.
As for Obama, I really am impressed by him in a lot of ways. Part of it is that he is really smart and poised and optimistic and hopeful and cogent. He has the vision thing and he has the capacity to inspire. He manages to be serious without being either stern or grave. And he strikes me as being truly competent in a matter of fact sort of way. In other words, in just about every personal characteristic he is different from -- and to my mind inarguably better than -- what we have now. He is the only person in the race on either side who both impresses and inspires me.
The interesting thing about race is that it is not his defining characteristic. He is black, but he has transcended being The Black Candidate. Naturally I am not naive enough to think that his race won't be an issue. And I suspect that the insane and loathsome "Osama" stuff from a while back is the sideways approach that the race baiters will take to try to plant that seed. But it seems to have little traction. So far. I suspect ugliness if he makes it through to the general election.
Now let's get to the one question that people seem not to want to broach head-on: How much of his support comes from folks who are just thrilled to have a black candidate whom they can visibly be seen supporting? I'm sure there is some. But I would hope that I am both cynical enough and follow these things so closely that I am inured from that sort of thing in terms of my own views of him. Of course the idea of a wonderful black candidate appeals to my sense of history and progress and optimism. But to me that is ancillary to his other gifts.
The concerns I have are tied mostly to foreign policy, as I wonder what his relative lack of experience means. I don't think parallels with Bush are useful, as he has made clear efforts over the years to engage with the rest of the world in serious ways. And I trust that he is both a deep and adaptable thinker and thus will be able to develop an elastic foreign policy, which I think we need now more than ever. And I hope that he will surround himself with serious and competent people.
Frankly, almost none of them from either side strike me as aserious on foreign policy. The best of the bunch, Biden, is pretty much unelectable (Sec State/SecDef?) while on the other side, McCain also would be ok in terms of foreign policy at least in terms of credibility, but I don't know how many of his stands in that arena I would be able to support and I simply don't believe that I could support much else for which he stands, and his straight talk express seems to have been derailed by the windy, expedient road in recent years. he got screwed in South Carolina in 2000 and has decided that integrity is a cast-offable commodity at this level of politics. What can I say -- in this political climate, I am a Yellow Dog Democrat even if my party sometimes drives me insane.
In any case, Obama is in a great position -- he is youing enough that 2016 is not that far away. He is handicapped, however, in the sense that if Hillary wins there is no way on earth she is choosing a black running mate. One major hurdle in terms of busting barriers will be quite enough, I am certain.
I hope this answer is of at least some use.
Were you a student in Texas or Minnesota?
Cheers --
dcat
Thanks so much for elaborating on your opinions! I was one of your Texas students and very much appreciated the fresh outlook you had and continue to have on current world and domestic issues. Having a busy life and being a part of such a conservative culture here, I am hard pressed to find anyone to discuss Obama/liberal viewpoints. I was excited to hear what you had to say, thanks again!!
Again -- thanks so much. I really do appreciate that sort of feedback. Do keep reading.
dcat
I have blogged my thoughts on the presidential race/Obama/foreign policy campaign issues etc etc, but with Holbrooker and Clark backing Hillary, I would imagine that Obama should be doing everything he can to get Biden to endorse him when he drops out before Iowa. Holbrooke and Clark will get the big jobs in the Clinton White House, and Biden can realistically expect to be SoS in a Obama White House. Obama gets a serious foreign policy hand to stand next to him during speeches and have gravtias and policy weight confered by osmosis, Biden gets a chance to stop talking and start acting... If only it would happen...
GoodLib --
Good points. I would point out, however, that in terms of appointments it won't be necessary for someone to have endorsed the eventual winner assuming that person has enough stature. In other words, each candidate won't be picking froma distinct group of candidates simply because some folks endorsed others.
dcat
Sure- but it doesn't do much to rebut the impression that the Clinton campaign is trying to put out that Obama is too inexperienced to be Commander-in-Chief. Just as many people were reassured by Colin Powell and Dick Cheney (!) sharing a platform with Dubya in the 2000 primaries, so too does Obama need some high-profile endorsements that he can trumpet as saying that major players thinks he has the necessary experience to back him. Clark would have also underlined Obama's opposition to the Iraq war. Of course, Obama could pick Clay Bucholz to be his National Security Adviser if he gets elected, but some reassuringly gray hairs and long resumes could help him win the primaries.
GoodLib --
I agree -- endorsements matter and Obama needs to play that game and get not only well-known names, but the right names. But in the end, I think if he calls people to serve they will serve no matter what horse they backed in the primary season.
not certain what to feel about Buchholz being sidelined for the remainder of the year and thus unavailable for the playoffs, but I guess I like the caution and the long-range thinking. Still, never too much pitching . . .
dcat
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