Complete Society

Complete Politics – Beneath the noise, look at character

While anyone who knows me knows I’m a liberal voter and a strong supporter of Obama, I’ve mostly tried to resist mixing politics in to the Complete Society blog.  But with the importance of this presidential election and the pivotal role government plays in our hopes for a sustainable future, it seems that separating out politics means I’m not discussing the whole picture that I tell everyone to look at.

So, from now on, you’ll see politics, govt policy and related topics discussed here, but, as with all my posts, I’m going to try a different take, going either bigger picture or deeper dive into the meanings and implications behind the rhetoric and issue positions.

Let’s start with character.  Step past all the surface stuff: race, gender, upbringing, age, religion.  Then step past even the issues: stated positions, experience in specific topics such as foreign policy, years at different levels of government, etc.

Then the first question that goes to the heart of whether this candidate will move our country towards a complete society is: “Will this candidate act for the greater good of our nation and the world?”

To quote Michael Douglas from “The American President”, “It’s entirely about character”.

Wherever they are on whatever issue your care so passionately about, it comes down to whether they authentically put humanity ahead of themselves.  This, fundamentally, is what we need in a President and is a given for anyone working for a sustainable future.

That’s why I came to dislike Hillary Clinton.  Before the primaries, I was neutral on her.  Respected her valiant attempt to fix healthcare in the early 90’s.  Hadn’t tracked her record as a Senator.   But the 2008 primaries showed she would say anything and take whatever position she needed in order to get elected, whether or not it would be good for the country.  The gas tax holiday idiocy was probably the most visible example of this.

This is also at the core of why I hate G W Bush.  I don’t use the word “hate” lightly since there’s almost nobody in the world I hate.  In 2000, I mostly disliked him because he stood for almost everything I was against in govt and I cringed in pain every time I heard him speak.  But over the last 8 years, he made decision after decision that was about him, his religious faith, and his interests instead of what would clearly be the greater good.

Think about this core idea when looking at the current candidates.  My opinions on Obama vs McCain will fill up some upcoming posts.

September 10, 2008 - Posted by Ted | Politics and Governance, Uncategorized | character, obama, politics