“Promise” of Obama | Feb 12th at 5:36pm
Bruce Katz says that, “the promise of Obama is an activist, knowledgeable, grounded White House able to see the connections between the dots.”
I think its unfair, if not inaccurate, to label that as a promise. That’s an tremendous burden to put on Obama, and files in with the many messianic traits that have been bestowed on the new president. Obama has sold us on hope, but not promises. Promises lead to disappointment.
But to suggest that Obama could deliver a promise of a White House that is activist, knowledgeable and grounded is a bit much, especially with Obama’s pledge to bipartisanship. There are more than a few Republicans running around the White House and Congress who are activist only in as far as they are obstructionists to no logic, who have a hostility to knowledge and are too gassed on ideology to be grounded.
Brentin Mock is a Metcalf Institute Fellow for Environmental Reporting at The American Prospect. He also writes for Essence, GOOD and Next American City magazines.
