David Weinberger explains why he woke up weeping with joy — and articulates for me why I teared up, again, this morning listening again to the last three minutes of Obama’s victory speech:
To live up to the ideal we just embraced, we have to do intentionally what Obama does by nature. He listens to those with whom he disagrees, but he responds only to the goodness expressed in even the most fear-driven of statements. Ignore the small, the petty, the self-involved, the defensive, and respond to the moments of goodness in all of us.
This is a practical program. I’ve seen it adopted on purpose and I’ve seen it work. Avoiding getting dragged into negative shoutfests is basic troll management. Learning to hear and respond to what is good and shared in an expression we find detestable is harder. The best teachers do this routinely. We can all learn to do it. We can. Yes, we can.
It is a big part of how Obama brings out the better nature in us. It is a big reason the unrelenting and unreasoned negative campaign aimed at him failed.
It’s been really heartening to read all the reports of reaction around the world to news that Americans have elected this black man, who I really believe — in his temperament, intelligence, humility, and uncanny ability to make people feel included — can be the truly Great Man we need for our times.