Did you see it yet? Today's foreign policy panel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire? Videos: Foreign Policy Forum.
To me, it portended the magic of what we can anticipate when Barack Obama resides in the White House. Six highly reputable policy advisors engaged in straight talk with America for three hours. Obama, who joined the meeting for the last hour, at long last reveled in the opportunity to engage with citizens in some real conversation sans political positioning. OMG, an opportunity to observe 'what lies beneath.'
Along with foreshadowing how exhilarating and uplifting an Obama White House would be, this forum frankly cataplulted the campaign into uberspace! It was absolutely astonishing to hear the Senator's honest evaluations of the promise and sacrifice we can expect if we make the decision to tackle major issues like global warming and dependence on foreign oil, improving the effectiveness of the United Nations, and teaching Americans how to interact and coexist in a multicultural global community.
"It's not as if we don't know how to do this," he said, noting that Fortune 500 companies are amply staffed with young professionals who are schooled in the art of cross cultural communications and diplomacy.
The challenge, Obama, says, is to find a way to inspire these young entrepreneurs to put these skills to work for their country.
Amid stepped-up attacks by Hillary Clinton claiming that Obama lacks the experience to face a dangerous world, the Obama camp turned loose a half dozen of the foreign policy experts in his fold to show the world the kind of high-caliber minds that are advising the first-term senator, who joined the panel of experts after nearly two hours of their deep ruminations.
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"Those who say this (the Indonesia years) is his only claim to foreign policy leadership are deliberately distorting what he said as well as his background," Rice said. "What you get by osmosis living and working in the White House, I don't discount that, but it's not the same thing as being the face of the country's foreign policy or being the person who had to make the tough decisions and deal with crises and work around an inflexible bureaucracy to get things done. That's a lot of silliness."
Richard Danzig, secretary of the Navy in the Clinton administration, concurred. "The whole point of this campaign is to call it like we see it. I don't think any of us is going to understate the risks just because of some ethereal political advantage," he said. "And given a risky world, I'd rather have him."
At least some of the voters in attendance seemed to agree after surviving the nearly three hour long session. "It sounds like he's got a really good core of international advisers," said Chris Moody, a business consultant. But how did Obama's foreign policy experience compare with that of Clinton, who points to her work as First Lady? "She's had exposure through Bill, sure," said Moody. "But she's had no more direct experience in making decisions than Obama has."
This event brought to mind my first posting on barackobama.com. The date? February 11. The title? Obama '08: Civics Live: Discovery Learning
Right now our candidate is in top form. What I would like to see and discuss is a way for the Senator to use the media to his advantage, to use the media as an opportunity to address the problems that charracterize our corporate sponsored disinformation networks. We really need to focus on educating more individuals about how to use the net to read real news. About social networking, indymedia, Link TV, progressive blogs.
Obama '08 can be a website that educate visitors: how about a mini class in civics, in constitutional law, in international relations. Hmmm... Perhaps this space could offer pay per view lectures with hall proceeds going to the campaign. Bill Moyers could do a small class on Media and the First Amendment, Thom Hartmann could do civics, Bobby Kennedy could do environmental law, Al Gore Global Warming: First Immediate Steps. Professors from around the world could submit ideas for classes. We could teach people the real story about American Foreign Policy and what we are going to have to do to become a positive influence in the world. Oh, and of course, George Lakoff on framing....
Let's make this a campaign like none other, an open learning and participatory experience with something for everyone. A virtual campaign headquarters thats open 24/7, just hummin' away.
Let's rock their world, before they get a chance to spin ours.
