THE PEACE PROCESS

Here's the Baltimore Sun's editorial response to Obama's Sunday speech to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington. I watched a part of the speech myself and, based on what I saw, agree with the editorial. I note that the speech was generally well received, and that even Prime Minister Netanyahu modified the hard-line position he took just a couple of days earlier.

I found myself in yet another argument this morning on a familiar topic: the complaint, from the left, that Obama has not fulfilled his promises, that he has failed to stand up to the right, that he has capitulated to the capitalist oligarchy, that he lacks leadership skills and so on. As I have said many times, and repeat again here, I myself am not in agreement with Obama on all matters, nor do I believe that he has yet lived up to his full potential. But I do take issue with those on the left who, on the basis of ideals with which I do not disagree, either withdraw their support from the president or shower him noisily with blame.

As I see it, both the "hold you nose and vote" and the "lesser of two evils" approach risk doing more harm than good as we move toward the next election. With irrational anger and, yes, sheer, blind hatred directed at him from the right, Obama needs the continued, active support of those of us who voted for him and want him to do more than he has been able to do to date. If his erstwhile supporters add their raised voices to the right-wing attacks, he cannot hope to achieve any part of that change he envisioned--and that we endorsed. The obstacles are just too immense. And outraged rhetoric serves nothing other than the egos of those already convinced of their own rectitude.

It's not my intention to stand as a mere apologist for the president--he has no need of those. I think we need instead to respect what he has in fact demonstrably managed to achieve in the most difficult and politically charged of circumstances, and refrain from allowing our legitimate, necessary criticism to become the angry and destructive rhetoric I hear from friends and read in ideological left-wing blogs. We have enough toxins in our political dialogue as it is.

I am not a Reagan fan, far from it. But his famous eleventh commandment--that "thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican"--has resulted to our dismay in a depressingly effective party unity. I do not believe that we should refrain from reasoned criticism of the president; but I do believe that it would strengthen our cause to refrain from speaking ill. A peace process would not be unwelcome among Democrats, whether "liberal" or "progressive"--or even middle of the road.