My Obama Moment

Icould never say what it’s like to lead a nation (or, for that matter, anything bigger than a large student publication) but going through my archives I came across a letter to the editor of the Cornell Review, the conservative rag started by Anne Coulter in the Reaganite heydays, that reminded me of a teachable moment I had back in 2003.

I’m no Obama and things are different here in the future. That might—might—give us some hope that the president will have more luck than I did bridging the partisan divide in America. Or it might just make the present depressing situation seem that much more incorrigible.

A Call for Dialogue

By Andrew Garib

Editor-In-Chief

Turn Left

November 16, 2003

I have written extensively on the depressing quality of political dialogue on this campus
and in this country, especially discussion of the issues of highest importance. Behind
party lines and empty rhetoric lies a fundamental distrust for those with opposing
political views and affiliations. In the early 90’s, many of the Republican right-wing
viewed President Clinton’s attempt at health insurance nationalization as a socialist
Trojan Horse. Today we need look no farther than the ‘Bush is a Nazi’ camp for
corresponding views in the political Left.

Notwithstanding the high viscosity of political debate, the goals of both this paper
and the organization I work for – Turn Left – include greater discussion about the issues
that matter most to Cornellians and Americans alike. It would nevertheless seem
inevitable, given the political atmosphere within which we express our views, that our
mutual desire for debate and the prevailing paradigm of political discussion would
collide.

Such collision happened recently. Staff at both the Review and Turn Left noticed
large numbers of our last issues missing from their usual haunts, which were presumed
destroyed. Suspicions arose and fingers were pointed. And although much of the distrust
came about through misunderstanding (the staff of both the Cornell Review and Turn Left
uphold the highest standards of personal and journalistic integrity), the event has once
again brought the problems of contemporary political discourse to our attention.

It seems plainly obvious that the solution to the currently sad state of political
discussion is in fact more and better quality debate. Yet even more important is the need
to remove our fears and irrational reactionary mindset in regards to each others’ political
ideologies and institutions. Those fostering this kind of distrust between the denizens of
the Left and Right seem to forget the nature of American government – moderation,
checks and balances – which has kept a Washington, D.C. Hitler or a Pennsylvania
Avenue Lenin from haunting our history. Bush is no Hitler and Clinton no Lenin – and in
the country with the highest concentration of military, economic and cultural power, it is
simultaneously a wonder, a delight, and a reassurance that ideologues of such extremes
could never for long hold the reigns of American office.

What’s needed, clearly, is more of the cooperation between Left and Right that
we are seeing today: The simple fact that the Editor-In-Chief of the university’s premier
progressive newspaper is writing for this paper, and that the Review, too, will have its
voice heard in the next Turn Left, is symbolic of a growing trust. This letter is a call for
all Cornellians, regardless of political stripe, to stand up for ideas and practical solutions
to today’s problems, not just party lines and historic institutions; to criticize ideas and
their formation, not personalities, individual or stereotypical; to raise the bar of political
activism and journalism; to get our ideas out into the community while avoiding
destructive, diminutive or divisive consequences.

I, along with the staff of both The Cornell Review and Turn Left challenge all
readers to set a new standard for political discourse. We encourage you to get active,
write prolifically and stand for you beliefs. Most importantly, we invite you to create new
modes of discourse between and among those of all political stripes. Despite the divisions
along party and ideological lines that exist between us all, I am confident that Cornell can
step up to this challenge, be driven by this encouragement, and with courage take the
invitation we have offered. We risk much more than personal pride and the integrity of
political institutions if we pursue the course of those who still think Clinton is a socialist,
or that our current president is Hitler incarnate.

www.cuturnleft.org