That means holding bullies accountable. It means recognizing the importance of simple justice, especially for regular Americans who are suffering the most in our current economy. We have touched on this subject many times, decrying Obama's insistence on "looking forward, not backwards" at the apparent criminality of the Bush administration--and the raging inequality the Bush White House helped unleash on our society.
Yet, as Westen so succinctly puts it, Obama utterly fails to understand "bully dynamics"--as practiced by Republicans and the elites who benefit from their policies.
Sadly, the passage from Westen above might prove to be the most profound words ever written about Barack Obama. The president took office at a time when American society was saturated with bullies. Our economy and our justice system had been brought to the edge of collapse . . . by the actions of bullies. Here on our little blog about injustice, we report on the actions of bullies almost every day. They drive much of the dysfunction that permeates our courtrooms and our boardrooms.
This is not just a personal failing for Obama. As our president, his failure to fight for the "arc of the moral universe" puts all of us at risk. Writes Westen:
The arc of history does not bend toward justice through capitulation cast as compromise. It does not bend when 400 people control more of the wealth than 150 million of their fellow Americans. It does not bend when the average middle-class family has seen its income stagnate over the last 30 years while the richest 1 percent has seen its income rise astronomically. It does not bend when we cut the fixed incomes of our parents and grandparents so hedge fund managers can keep their 15 percent tax rates. It does not bend when only one side in negotiations between workers and their bosses is allowed representation. And it does not bend when, as political scientists have shown, it is not public opinion but the opinions of the wealthy that predict the votes of the Senate. The arc of history can bend only so far before it breaks.
As for Obama's other major failing, it's hard to comprehend that he could do such a poor job of communicating with the public. By almost all accounts, Obama is an intelligent man and a speaker of considerable gifts. But you would never know it from his inability to connect with everyday Americans.
The stories our leaders tell us, Westen says, can have a profound impact on the public mindset. But Obama began stumbling on that front right out of the gate. Writes Westen:
When Barack Obama rose to the lectern on Inauguration Day, the nation was in tatters. Americans were scared and angry. The economy was spinning in reverse. Three-quarters of a million people lost their jobs that month. Many had lost their homes, and with them the only nest eggs they had. Even the usually impervious upper middle class had seen a decade of stagnant or declining investment, with the stock market dropping in value with no end in sight. Hope was as scarce as credit.
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