<\/p>\n
Earlier today, I wondered if the President would return to President Obama made the moral case for health care reform At the same time, the speech was not saccharine or The speech was also deeply civil.\u00a0 <\/span>Following on a heated summer of fear and despair, he moved Oh, yes.\u00a0 <\/span>There Almost 2,000 years ago, a fellow named Paul wrote to a Tonight was about the moral “we.”\u00a0 <\/span>President Obama delivered a hope-filled speech that called He renewed hope by reminding us that in healing cynical and \u00a0And if that’s not progress–and progressive–I don’t know what <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier today, I wondered if the President would return to hope in tonight’s health care speech.\u00a0 He did.\u00a0 And he did even more. President Obama made the moral case for health care reform by appealing to the best aspects of American character, reminding us of our history, and by making people accountable for their actions.\u00a0\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[413],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-care"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nhope in tonight’s health care speech.\u00a0
\n<\/span>He did.\u00a0 <\/span>And he did even
\nmore.<\/p>\n
\nby appealing to the best aspects of American character, reminding us of our
\nhistory, and by making people accountable for their actions.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He called us to neighborliness
\nand generosity.\u00a0 <\/span>He drew a
\nlife-affirming picture of a caring community, asking everyone to do his or her
\npart, outlining the responsibilities of deep democracy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>What was striking about his
\nspeech is that he made no specific biblical reference, cited no one religious
\ntradition, and praised no single ethical system.\u00a0 <\/span>Instead, he developed a moral case based on compassion,
\ncare, and common humanity drawing from the general principles of “do unto
\nothers” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”\u00a0 <\/span>He invited all of our religions, spiritualities, and ethical
\nsystems into the meaningful work of healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\npie-in-the-sky.\u00a0 <\/span>This wasn’t a
\nvision of some perfect future.\u00a0 <\/span>The
\nmoral case was interwoven with solid, sometimes surprising, policies drawn from
\nan array of sources.\u00a0 <\/span>He leaned
\ntoward a progressive vision, borrowed freely from a number of sensible centrist
\nproposals, and even affirmed the Republican call for tort reform.\u00a0 <\/span>President Obama asked us to move beyond
\nthe purity of ideology to enact real social justice–to do the right thing, the
\nfair thing for the community.\u00a0 <\/span>And,
\nin doing so, enlarge our own hearts to become a better society, one with wider
\narms outstretched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nus past hatred by keeping his cool (even when being shouted at by a
\nCongressman), by insisting on honesty, calling out lies, and modeling the sort
\nof behavior he expects of other leaders.\u00a0
\n<\/span>It was plain speaking–in the old style of Harry Truman–clear, detailed,
\ndignified, and urgent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwere things that were missing from the speech.\u00a0 <\/span>As a progressive, I wish the American family’s compassion
\ncould embrace undocumented immigrants.\u00a0
\n<\/span>I also wish we could create some sort of system that better served the
\ncomplexity of choices that women face regarding their own health.\u00a0 <\/span>I do think that a single-payer system
\nwould be the best idea for a great nation. \u00a0<\/span>But you know what?\u00a0
\n<\/span>It isn’t about me.\u00a0 <\/span>It isn’t
\nabout what I think and what I want.\u00a0
\n<\/span>It isn’t about what progressives want in terms of policy.\u00a0 <\/span>It is about us–all of us in the largest
\nsense.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfractured community in the ancient city of Corinth urging its members, “that
\nall of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions between you, but that
\nyou be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”\u00a0 <\/span>People had divided into camps, calling themselves by the
\nnames of their leaders, and casting others out of the community.\u00a0 <\/span>Paul called this foolishness and begged
\nthe brawling Corinthians to “seek wisdom” by working together and having a common
\npurpose.\u00a0 <\/span>Wisdom begins by
\nunderstanding the “we” that is needed to accomplish that which is healing,
\nbeautiful, and just.<\/p>\n
\nus to stop being part of a camp–and instead see our “camp” as the wider
\nAmerican family.\u00a0 <\/span>Those of us who
\nare rich, who are poor, who are in-between, those who are ill, who are healthy,
\nwho one day may be infirm.\u00a0 <\/span>We are
\nin this together.\u00a0 <\/span>He made the case
\nthat we need each other, that we have a common purpose of caring for each other
\nand making a better future together. \u00a0<\/span>He did it inclusively–inclusive in his ethical reach,
\ninclusive in his political reach, inclusive in his reach toward civility.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nhate-filled divides we might become a healthier people, that if we–even just
\nsome of us–overcome the spiritual sickness of division, we may just heal our
\nnation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nis.\u00a0<\/p>\n