tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post5419754413253737374..comments2024-03-28T10:49:14.510-05:00Comments on Horizons: President Obama on the importance of telling the storyNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-1289851767972735912013-01-26T22:20:11.884-06:002013-01-26T22:20:11.884-06:00I believe the president knew that he didn't ha...I believe the president knew that he didn't have a lot of time to get things done. He knew the GOP was going to obstruct 100%. He really didn't have time to come up with a story. That would've just been him giving the beltway something else to bullshit with. So he got with the party leaders to push through as much as they could. Obama's one of the most gifted politicians to come out in a while. I doubt there's much anyone could have done to counteract that kind of opposition. He had to say that bigoted morons weren't bigoted morons. He had that dumbass press core propping up the same bigoted morons. There's the dilettante squad that drowned out anything reasonable. Then, you have people in your party that refused to act right. Those gray hairs tell me quite a bit. <br /><br />Vic78Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-25050275593987343682013-01-26T10:50:25.810-06:002013-01-26T10:50:25.810-06:00All is indeed well. For some reason, I've had ...All is indeed well. For some reason, I've had no desire to write at all lately. Been sort of busy, played a ton of music, and been hitting my meditation. I like to write (comments count, to me) but the truth is that it's not a priority.<br /><br />Keep it up. I feel like I'm going back into a participatory phase.Billhttp://freeandeasywandering.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-15274779662847158952013-01-26T10:41:01.759-06:002013-01-26T10:41:01.759-06:00Good to "see" you Bill. Hope all is well...Good to "see" you Bill. Hope all is well.<br /><br />The "we're all in this together" was what scarred the shit out of Republicans during the election. They tried - and failed - to challenge it by going after the "you didn't build that" frame. <br /><br />One of the things that impressed me early on about Obama was his talk about the idea that we have an "empathy deficit." It was a way of talking about the problem that "we're all in this together" is trying to solve. Its as much about changing culture as it is about changing politics. <br /><br />And I love the idea of narrative normalizing the ideals to set the tone for what's possible. In that way - if Obama can pull this off - his legacy will far outreach his 2nd term.Nancy LeTourneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-2922701388259395452013-01-26T10:31:53.400-06:002013-01-26T10:31:53.400-06:00Well, you go right to the important quote, which i...Well, you go right to the important quote, which is what popped into my own head. I myself am someone who has underestimated the importance of narrative, and of shaping narrative as a form of action. I came up in school when narrative structures were pooh-poohed as old fashioned, and it was all about being cool with post-modern tropes and things like that.<br /><br />What I didn't understand was how important it is for us as people to find language to express not only what we know, but what we imagine for ourselves. Language needs context for meaning, and narrative provides that context. Not just language in the strictest sense, either, but all of our structures of meaning, including policy.<br /><br />Obama's second term is clearly going to be all about hammering home the idea of "we're all in this together" until it's normalized in our discourse. That sense of normal, which narrative produces, entirely conditions what is possible in terms of policy.<br /><br />I would say in this context that if our narrative context had been "we're all in this together" the President would have passed single payer, gladly.Billhttp://freeandeasywandering.com/noreply@blogger.com