Art of Blame

Reading the headlines this morning I read Rupert Murdoch wondering aloud whether Ben Carson might be America’s first real black president. Another headline, this one from the sports world, had Kaepernick (the 49er’s star quarterback) lashing back at his critics. Then there are the stories about vaccinations – whether we are too reliant on them to prevent diseases and wind up increasing the public’s vulnerability for other health risks. And so it goes. Every day we encounter more questions posed in the media about some topic or other.

They start of course from one person’s idea of what is right or wrong, or normal or odd, usual or twisted. Someone finds the disharmony is a subject and writes about it. Sort of like I’m doing right now.

Disharmony is a condition of mis-balance. It tugs at us and shouts something is wrong. Like the unbalanced wheel on the car when it informs us of such at higher speeds and the wheel vibrates, even bounces repeatedly. Our driving control is hampered. We have less braking distance, or less steering accuracy. Something is off and we must fix it. The noise and vibration from the wheel is disconcerting and requires attention.

The wash of news headlines or story subheadings do that same thing for me. Something vibrates in my head warning of a growing presence of disharmony in the news. What is it? Is the pattern clear enough? Is a response needed? And from me? Now?

Well, let’s see. Rupert Murdoch, of course, distributes the news because that is the business he is in – publishing. Unfortunately, some publishers think they ought to create the news, or at least funnel what they think is important to the rest of the public. Same thing begins to happen. Eventually there is a prism used to select stories or view them in a larger sense that fits a pattern predetermined in the publisher’s mind. Such is the path of subjective news editing. And Rupert is famous for it.

The trail of failed newspapers he has left behind is proof of this. All too bad. Both for the papers and the public they purported to serve. The trust in the papers is spent; the public’s understanding of the issues poor and distorted.

Time. It takes time. To make judgments. To understand broad thrusts of issues – topics – subjects – so that we see how they intersect with the larger story of society’s meandering through history. It is not predetermined. It is not a slam dunk. For anyone.

It is merely opinion unless and until cogent thought and research is performed to broaden the base of thinking that leads to conclusions with merit.

“The first real black president?” What on earth does Rupert mean by that? Is it a slam against Mr. Obama? Is it an endorsement of Carson? Or is it a bad boy being a bad boy?

I think the latter is closer to the truth. As I said it takes time to make good judgments. Perspective builds slowly through experience. Nearly eight years of the Obama presidency and I have a comfortable feeling that his tenure will be viewed as a turning point in public policy and politics. A seminal presidency. Fact holds sway against opinion and emotion. History is built on facts carefully curried so they don’t get lost. Admission of errors when they occur so we can avoid them in the future. The human experience is never 100% accurate – but always true to its nature. The latter is built on error and trial and correction. That is how we learn. It is how we improve ourselves.

Better done when we are mostly pulling in the same direction rather than atomizing our efforts across the board trying to lay blame for a negative happening. Yes, stuff happens, as Jeb Bush so eloquently uttered. But what we do about the ‘stuff happening’ is what sets us all apart in the long run. Did we respond intelligently to ward off re-occurrences of future stuff happening? Are we protecting our public appropriately, or is this really the Wild West of the 19^th century America returning to life? I doubt that. Too many people, too much density of population, too much diversity and too much common good to ignore.

Blaming is not helpful. Understanding causation is. Researching and thinking is another.

Kaepernick’s quarter back talent is enormous. The head game others implant on him is also part of the game. Let him work it out. He has done beautifully in the past. He will do so again. Ben Carson continues to wobble from issue to issue attempting to find a happy course; not yet has he found it, but eventually he may. He is calm. He is nice, seemingly. But is he historic? Does he understand the issues in their broad context of history and cultural evolution? Can he govern because of that?

He will need that, Rupert. For now we have a President who does understand history – American and World history. Obama also understands the US Constitution intimately. He is an expert in constitutional law. He also has first hand experience with building community organizations in under-served neighborhoods. He understands those dynamics. And he can place them accurately within the context of the nation’s agenda of building healthy futures for the society.

Everyone else is a critic. Only a critic. They have not struggled with engineering solutions to stubborn problems. They have not attempted to gain larger understanding among a diverse population to gain support for one solution over another. They have not been the manager of compromise so needed in a democracy to move forward day after day.

The current President has been leading a nation like a man dogged by a pack of wild dogs all nipping at and gripping at his ankles and legs. He is dragging the pack along. Unwilling as they are, he is showing them the future they deny.

And Murdoch and other blamers forget there is an opposite art we all desperately need to learn.

The art of leadership and perseverance. Obama has that lesson well learned. The pack made it so.

History will so mark this accomplishment, of that I am certain.

October 9, 2015