In one visit, President Obama turned the page from the Bush-Cheney era of cowboy leadership to one that acknowledges that in the 21st century we cannot go it alone.
Merkel of Germany and Sarcozy of France went from promising disgruntlement to giving credit where it’s earned:
Both credited the new U.S. president with helping to break a banking-secrecy logjam over tax havens and the release of a blacklist of non-compliant jurisdictions.
… “President Obama really found the consensus,” Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting. “He didn’t focus exclusively on stimulus … In fact it was he who managed to help me persuade [Chinese] President Hu Jintao to agree to the reference to the … publication of a list of tax havens, and I wish to thank him for that.”
In her news conference, Merkel noted that “the American president also put his hand into this.”
Pres. Sarkozy announced he will also take one detainee from Gitmo.
As for Russia’s Pres. Medvedev, what a difference a real leader makes:
The Russian president contrasted Obama as “totally different” to his predecessor George W. Bush, whom he blamed for the “mistake” of US missile shield plans fiercely opposed by Moscow.
[...] “I liked the talks. It is easy to talk to him. He can listen. The start of this relationship is good,” he said, adding: “Today it’s a totally different situation (compared to Bush)… This suits me quite well.”
It’s a turn in a new direction, though manifesting something concrete, especially on loose nukes, remains to be worked out, as does the missile defense issue, which waits a solution.
Obama went further today, reaching out in an historic townhall that was obviously meant to encourage the people of France and also Germany that their countries need to get further involved in Afghanistan. This as Pres. Obama heads to NATO to press his case for more regional involvement in Afghanistan, while also stressing that Al Qaeda and terrorism remains a world threat.
“France recognises that having al-Qaeda operate safe havens that can be used to launch attacks is a threat not just to the United States but to Europe.
“In fact it is probably more likely that al-Qaeda would be able to launch a serious terrorist attack in Europe than in the United States because of proximity.
“This is not an American mission, this is a Nato mission, this is an international mission.”[..]
It’s enough to make Glenn Beck cry.
A thread in both this piece and your piece yesterday that summerized Obama’s day both point to how personality and temperment play a part in the efffectiveness of our leaders.
I have long had the theory that both Clinton and Bush had personalities that were shaped by alcohol abuse. Clinton was a classic codependent adult child of an alcoholic and had many personality characteristics shaped by that experience.
Bush had the personality characteristics of a dry drunk, someone who stops drinking but does not seek to heal the underlying disease.
A goggle search of the manifestations of these personality types will prove interesting to anyone so inclined.
Obama’s personal struggle has been to reconcile the duality of his heritage. He seems to have really done the work and come out of it whole and mature. Now he can use what he learned to reconcile other seemingly irreconcilable differences.
Just some thoughts to offer up this morning~
Well, what an interesting comment and intellectual challenge you’ve delivered, LL. I’ll jump in, though you may disagree strongly…
Agree with the temperament angle, but I’m strongly against this type of framing of people’s past, slotting them into a “classic codependent adult child” meme, which I find reductionist and missing the larger narrative by a mile. I know it’s something our society does, but I think it does a tremendous disservice to choice and strength of character that people are to battle our whole lives.
What WJC rose above is extraordinary, but you could just as easily reduce his personal acting out to not having enough mother love, considering she had to leave to work to support him. I wouldn’t however, because sometimes it’s just a matter of opportunity and ego.
As for GWB, a spoiled child trying to prove himself and rise to compete could also be reduced to an Oedipus complex, trying to measure up to daddy. I didn’t like it when the psychobabble started around him either.
Our “soul’s code,” to use James Hillman’s famous phrase, is about much more than our addictions, weaknesses, and mental crutches or our circumstances, but is about finding our bliss, which takes a life in order to learn to make the harder choices of character that quite possibly also deals with karma, though that’s up for questioning too.
Taylor…I don’t disagree with you at all. I had no intention of reducing either Bush or Clinton to the insights offered.They are just insights.
Alcholism and it’s effects on the people around it is an interest of mine and I have studied it in the past. It would be unamerican in the good sense of the concept to believe that we can’t all rise above our beginnings and that in the end we are in charge of our own character.
karma may still be in question to some but if you live long enough and pay attention there are too many examples to ignore.
I have to agree with Taylor on this one.
I have a degree in pyschology and decided not to pursue a graduate degree or the field as a profession after years of study that was nothing but labeling and pigeonholing. I find it restrictive and as Taylor said missing a wider narrative.
We would all do well to to see people as they are in their present and not weight the past as much as we do.
another thing…I believe that codependent personalities are in some ways the backbone of any society.People who want to help others, make a differnece in their lives,give and put others first fill the ranks of the health and teaching and social service occupations. I am not saying that only codependents have these qualities but I have always found it interesting that many do. The balance between self and others is their challenge and coping behaviors can be their crucible.
I’m going to throw in my 2 cents again. I think both Lake Lady and Taylor are correct. As a person old enough to be a grandparent, it is only in the last few years that I came to recognize the impact of my childhood experiences.
kris.. on this we must agree to disagree as I believe that the past is the driver of the present and no one can escape it completely.
However, I don’t pidgeon hole individuals I just seek to understand them and what makes them tick.To use an old saying we are all like snowflakes, no two alike, none of us completely knowable even to ourselves.
I don’t see recognizing a trait (like co-dependency) as pigeonholing anymore than recognizing that someone has a limp.
djjl…I was telling my younger brother recently that parenthood gives one the opportunity to heal childhood experiences and grandparenthood gives us the opportunity to put in in perspective.
Fascinating insights. I really appreciate reading these types of comments from you all. Thanks!
Well LL I have a saying that the original comes from the Old Testament – don’t look back, you’ll turn into a pillar of shit.
I agree that our past somewhat influences our present and future, however, if we weight it too much it WILL influence our future unnecessarily. Today influences my tomorrow (the future) so does today hold has much influence as 40 years ago?
djjl…that is a great way of putting it. Personally when I started to reconize my own codependent characteristics years ago is when I was able to throw many of them off and live more freely in my own skin. We all have warts and dings that come from our past and understanding them and forgiving them is liberating.
kris…I would have to answer you in my honest opinion no. The past has far more influence than today. We are unformed when we are young our early experiences make up our core view. To me enlightenment is the daily challenge a person gives to their core view.
It reminds me of the way the health care system treats disparately what they recognize as an illness of the mind and one of the body. Never mind that the brain is of the body.
So, I take my grandson for an evaluation at the nationally recognized Dennis Developmental Center of Arkansas Children’s Hospital. They use a team approach in evaluating children – so he is seen by an audiologist and speech therapist, a psychologists, and two physicians. His private insurance pays for the two medical doctors but none of the other professionals.
My daughter, who notified ARKids when her $.50 per hour pay raise put her $80.00 a year over the limit, walked out with an $800.00 bill.
That fifty cent pay increase resulted in a pay decrease, after paying for private insurance for her son, of over $2,000. And, that’s before any co-pays or “out of network” coverage.
Note that the Arkansas legislature has now increased the ARKids income limits to 2.5 times the poverty rate (the federal government allows up to 3 times) which would easily allow coverage for her son under the program – but it appears that the legislatures are fearful that those people earning 2.5 times the poverty level might opt for the coverage under ARKids that is in the best interest of those families…thereby removing these families as customers of the private insurance industry.
So, if those families are willing to play a little Russian Roulette and drop health care coverage for their child/children for no less than 6 months – they can enroll in the schip ARKids program.
Kris
One of the reasons I ended up in so much trouble as an adult is that I thought as you are saying. I made every effort to ignore my childhood experiences – I told myself to “get over it.” I never made an effort to integrate those experiences into my functioning today. So I carried a giant gunny sack over my shoulder for years. All that crap I tried to ignore didn’t go away no matter what I did.
Until, I simply could no longer function. I hadn’t made a choice to haul it around with me – in fact I made the opposite choice – forget about it. Well, as it turns out I couldn’t simply choose to erase the memories, experiences and their effects.
I tell you what, I’m damned fortunate to be as strong and tough as I was. I was smart enough to know what healthy behavior was – and I faked to really well. I’m fortunate that I could do that – kind of like functioning in a parallel world. It’s the only thing that insured that my mental health issues did no harm to my family.
Oh lord djjl….I wonder if the American people noticed that one of the reasons the Europeans have a different take on things like world stimulus is that they have an in place safety net.
Lot’s wife’s problem was not that she simply looked back:
The phrase indicates that Lot’s wife was behind him, and has the meaning of “lagging behind with longing.” She was not only some distance behind the others, but as she looked at the cities being destroyed, she longed for her old life there. Her body had moved out of Sodom, but her heart was still back there.
The angel had told them “look not behind thee … lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17). Lot’s wife simply ignored the warning and received the penalty the angel had warned her about. She was then “consumed”.
Lake Lady
How old is your little man now? So cute.
djjl …he is seven months and getting to be so much fun! Honestly, babies scare me a little and bore me a little but when they start showing their own spirits that is when it gets good.
He is killing my back! I have started putting on heat patches before I go over. This too shall pass:)
…may I suggest some strengthening exercises, LL? Working out helps almost anything, including depression.
djjl….depression and it’s history of treatment is a whole long conversation in itself. I am so happy for you that you had the intelligence to make it through the mine fields.
“Working out helps almost anything, including depression.”….so does a good bottle of wine.
I know you are right Taylor about strenghing exercises. I have a polio curve in my back and I need to get to it and start some work on the core.
We had a great yoga instructor out here and she quit and was replaced with a nazi who brings out my inner rebel,I need to find an alternative.
heh-heh, kris.. Amen to that one.
Get a DVD or something, LL. Yoga would be great. EVERYONE should find a work out program they enjoy, most importantly, but that they do at least 3 days a week.
I’m a fanatic, but you don’t have to go my route.
–stepping off of soap box now–
Boy have we gotten a long way from Taylor’s post!
What I was thinking about when I started out on this thread is how my thinking on both Obamas has evolved.I had a purely partisan and unfair distaste for Michelle during the primaries because of my strong loyality to HRC. I was wrong. Michelle is a very interesting person.
I am starting to see her husband as mature and stable in large part because of his choice of her a a lifemate. Life is a funny thing. Stick around and you can amaze yourself! Ha!
Way OT but I need to say this.
I am following the breaking news from Binghamton, NY. It sounds just awful. I wish the President would address the nation about the excess of violence in this country. Bush would never have been credible on this topic but Obama would be.
Something needs to be said. This kind of thing needs to stop and stop now.
Lake Lady says:
03 April 2009 at 12:42 pm
djjl says:
03 April 2009 at 1:00 pm
_____
You can probably guess that I agree with you. Understanding of our “past” which includes genetics (no choice there) is integral to full bloom in adulthood. I can clearly see the effects of alcoholism on Bush and Clinton. Remember alcoholism is a family wide disease. Bill Clinton channeled allot of his, I’ll say unrest, into positive things, but not all positive. Bush well, he never really grew up.. it’s called “prolonged adolescence”
Has anyone else noticed a seeming uptick in violence as the economy plumments? Murder/sucides seem more frequent.
I am having a media free day today and don’t want to tune in to the latest.
This has been a great morning conversation and now I have farmers to call.
Thanks everyone~
kris says:
03 April 2009 at 1:27 pm
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kris – I’ve been following it since the news broke. Binghamton is less than 60 miles from where I live and I have family living there. It’s pretty tragic when something like this happens.
Taylor
You are so right about exercise. Before I got medical help for depression, I began to walk 4-6 12′-15′miles a day and work out with weights. I absolutely loved it – I believe it gave me the clarity to recognize I wasn’t knocking on all cylinders.
You may recall my health battles of the last few years. Man, hurting is tough. But, I went to a chiropractor, on almost a lark, and the results have been truly life changing for me. I have been able to return to walking (only on a treadmill at level) and to weight machines. It has been so exciting. I have an awful lot of pain many days, particularly with barometric pressure changes, but I think I can feel it lessening. I don’t take anything stronger than aspirin – afraid I’d get addicted.
One thing I discovered that has been remarkable is sitting on one of those big exercise balls. You sit with proper posture automatically. Don’t overdo it as I did -wow was I sore- after an evening watching a TV movie. Start a bit at a time. Now it is generally my “chair” of choice. It is wonderful for developing core strength with virtually no effort that you can recognize as work.
It is tragic JA. Last thing I heard was 13 dead with somewhere around 40 or so hostages. It just makes me sick.
Good for you, djjl! Love it.
GeoT
I completely agree with you. I have no doubt that genetics plays a big role. Look how depression and mental illness in general tends to run in families. Plath, Hemmingway and djjl. My
Feel free to kick this into a topic free for all.
New thread on the budget is up…
a cornucopia of material for justlen:
Levi Johnston Talks Safe Sex With Tyra Banks (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/03/levi-johnston-talks-safe_n_182795.html
djjl says:
03 April 2009 at 1:57 pm
GeoT
I completely agree with you. I have no doubt that genetics plays a big role. Look how depression and mental illness in general tends to run in families.
_____
djjl: when I found out my Father’s ancestors were from Newfoundland (originally Ireland) I also found put that scientists use Newfoundland for genetic studies because (like Iceland) it’s an Island with a relatively small (and at one time isolated) population. They found a high rate of alcoholism, certain cancers, a rare heart disease and psoriasis (for some reason)
Good post on Coleman for those following Franken’s quest:
http://www.senateguru.com/diary/626/mnsen-what-is-norm-colemans-end-game
I actually heard Hannity say this last night (to some British conservative dude)
“It looks like the European love affair with Obama is about over, wouldn’t you agree?”
and the funny thing is the guy didn’t agree, saying the “left bank liberals” might be disillusioned but mainstream Europe still admires the guy.
Oh and Hannity’s cute nickname for Giethner: “Turbo-Tax-cheat-Giethner”
Ranks right up there with the classics like “unrepentant-domestic-terrorist” and “The hate=America-first-crowd”
BTW:
Glenn Beck is another example of an alcoholic personality. In his case the compensation for the boozing and the drugging is to go to the polar extreme and to become holier than though and judgmental on all the “evil” in the world, which is really just his own conscience…
Taylor Marsh says:
03 April 2009 at 2:15 pm
________
Thanks for adding some humor to what is a very wet dark day here.
GeoT says:
03 April 2009 at 2:22 pm
That conservative British guy is the new ‘star’ on Faux shows. He has been on all week bashing everything Obama, while the weasels at Faux cheer him on.
These of course are the same people who considered it un-patriotic to criticize then-president-bush when he went overseas.
OT
MSNBC is going Hi-Def on June 29th.
JA -
That asshole in Binghamton killed himself. That really pisses me off. Never accoutable for the carnage they create.
Kris,
don’t you wish they would just start with themselves, and leave everybody else alone?
Yes I do audiegrl. I will never understand situations like that.
It sounds like the killer was of Asian descent and most of the people helped in that center were Vietnamese or Laotion.
I am sure Lou Dobbs’ head will be exploding tonight. Going on his usual illegal immigrant rants.
Audiegrl says:
03 April 2009 at 3:28 pm
I am sure Lou Dobbs’ head will be exploding tonight. Going on his usual illegal immigrant rants.
___
wasn’t it legal immigrants that were killed? If anyone uses immigration as a wedge in a case like this they’re just sick. IMO
I really enjoyed reading this dialogue, especially Lake Lady and Djjl. Love your thoughts. It’s nice to know that there are actually people in this world who think and wonder about things – not just into their own little world. Actually, I appreciated everyone’s thoughts here. I’ve been working on some other things lately, so I haven’t been around. Lake Lady, I agree with you about the Obamas, although I still think Hillary is underrated and undervalued. I truly hope she will one day be our President but only time will tell. I loved the French town hall the President did with the young people. I believe he has the potential to be one of our greatest presidents, but as FDR said, we are going to have to make him great by pushing for what we need in this country. I really am impressed with his personality which is perhaps the most important ingredient for exceptional leadership. I think the Obamas are probably the most attractive and inspirational couple in the world today. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?