Simple Things/ Lang Kenneth Haynes
Barack Obama 2010
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died. A special election was held on January 19, 2010 to replace him. A Republican won the
race. The first time in several decades that anyone other than a Democrat had occupied that senatorial seat. Big blow. Many were
surprised. The election of the Republican, Scott Brown, means that the Democrats lose their 60-vote super-majority in the senate. The
implications for proposed health care changes are huge. Monumental, in fact. The loss of the senatorial election in Massachusetts on
Tuesday means, among other things, that the Democrats will not be able to squash filibuster attempts to derail health care legislation, and
since health care is said to be the crown jewel of the Obama administration, some say that he is dead in the water after a little over one
year in office. Some would say that his failure to mobilize the assorted interests necessary to pass health care legislation that would
result in a healthier America is a sign that he can’t make the many parts of the political machine run smoothly, and that the pieces are so
out of alignment and lubricant that a breakdown of enormous proportions is imminent. And this is what appears to be the primary focus.
And not in any way to minimize the critical importance of health care, but we all know that there is much more at stake. Much more.
The idea of change resonated with many Americans. At some level it became clear that the country was run by a very small number
of people who are not likely to work alongside the majority of us in the factories, in the farms, in the hotels, convenience stores and other
places that pay workers as little as possible to do what we do. Some get paid a little more. Some work in fancier buildings and even
have titles. But truth be told, the overwhelming majority of us are pawns. A super-duper majority. True. Pawns are incredibly important.
To totally ignore them pretty much guarantees failing at the game of chess. But they are also the first to be sacrificed. Each side has only
one king and one queen, but eight pawns. Each side has two bishops, two knights and two castles, but the pawns are greatest in
number. Pawns have one huge flaw. Sometimes they get to thinking that they are kings or queens. They delude themselves into thinking
and believing that they can join the big guy’s club if they continue to distance themselves from the little people — the other pawns. They
forget that their power comes from the fact that they outnumber the kings and queens, and they also forget one essential, related reality:
they can easily be eliminated if they stand alone. A very small percentage actually runs things. They own the factories, farms, hotels and
convenience stores. They might even puff cigars that cost more than the amount of money you earned last week. Maybe more if you’re
unemployed. Divide and conquer is one of the oldest war ploys in the book. It continues to work. The masses either aren’t very smart or
we forget very quickly. We retreat too quickly to convenient ways to separate ourselves from one another, and skin color continues to be
the “easiest” way to fortify and perpetuate these divisions.
Barack Obama did not cure the world of hatred and war; eliminate all forms of discrimination; change the human heart to make
fairness the one, uncompromised ideal; render home foreclosures rarities instead of everyday affairs; re-open closed factories; serve as
a buffer between the American people and unwanted, nerve-shattering phone calls from creditors or fatten the bank accounts of the
average person — the pawn. You and me. So now we can all retreat to what we know. Divisions based on the obvious difference of skin
color and less obvious ways that we separate ourselves from one another. We are afforded the dubious luxury of falling back into narrow
definitions of Black and White, Republican and Democrat, rich and poor, rural and urban, gay and straight, House and Senate, and
privileged and generationally destitute.
For a brief moment we were larger than all this. Pawns stood beside other pawns to feel a strange and previously unknown brand of
power and unity. Polling places, around the country, felt different. There was a strange and different scent in the air. And the scent was
that of hope, not resignation to the idea that survival was as good as it got. The feeling of power that flowed was a result of hope and not
despair. The strength that swelled up and grew like a raging river happened when it was realized that the way to get even stronger was
to extend a hand to a fellow human being rather than stepping on his neck in a vain attempt to get to the front of the line. Is it audacious to
believe that we have the power to alter what will one day be considered history? I hope so. Other than the very small percentage, I think
it fair to say that the past has not been particularly gracious to any of us. Sure. Kinder to some than to others. But generally ungracious. In
my humble opinion it would be downright silly to abandon the notion of hope and the implied element of hope is action. Big action. Small
action. Headline action. Behind the scenes action. Economic action. Spiritual action. Political action. Any action we so desire. But action
is required. Hope is not synonymous with dreaming. Hope is dreaming plus. It is up to us to determine what the “plus” will be.
race. The first time in several decades that anyone other than a Democrat had occupied that senatorial seat. Big blow. Many were
surprised. The election of the Republican, Scott Brown, means that the Democrats lose their 60-vote super-majority in the senate. The
implications for proposed health care changes are huge. Monumental, in fact. The loss of the senatorial election in Massachusetts on
Tuesday means, among other things, that the Democrats will not be able to squash filibuster attempts to derail health care legislation, and
since health care is said to be the crown jewel of the Obama administration, some say that he is dead in the water after a little over one
year in office. Some would say that his failure to mobilize the assorted interests necessary to pass health care legislation that would
result in a healthier America is a sign that he can’t make the many parts of the political machine run smoothly, and that the pieces are so
out of alignment and lubricant that a breakdown of enormous proportions is imminent. And this is what appears to be the primary focus.
And not in any way to minimize the critical importance of health care, but we all know that there is much more at stake. Much more.
The idea of change resonated with many Americans. At some level it became clear that the country was run by a very small number
of people who are not likely to work alongside the majority of us in the factories, in the farms, in the hotels, convenience stores and other
places that pay workers as little as possible to do what we do. Some get paid a little more. Some work in fancier buildings and even
have titles. But truth be told, the overwhelming majority of us are pawns. A super-duper majority. True. Pawns are incredibly important.
To totally ignore them pretty much guarantees failing at the game of chess. But they are also the first to be sacrificed. Each side has only
one king and one queen, but eight pawns. Each side has two bishops, two knights and two castles, but the pawns are greatest in
number. Pawns have one huge flaw. Sometimes they get to thinking that they are kings or queens. They delude themselves into thinking
and believing that they can join the big guy’s club if they continue to distance themselves from the little people — the other pawns. They
forget that their power comes from the fact that they outnumber the kings and queens, and they also forget one essential, related reality:
they can easily be eliminated if they stand alone. A very small percentage actually runs things. They own the factories, farms, hotels and
convenience stores. They might even puff cigars that cost more than the amount of money you earned last week. Maybe more if you’re
unemployed. Divide and conquer is one of the oldest war ploys in the book. It continues to work. The masses either aren’t very smart or
we forget very quickly. We retreat too quickly to convenient ways to separate ourselves from one another, and skin color continues to be
the “easiest” way to fortify and perpetuate these divisions.
Barack Obama did not cure the world of hatred and war; eliminate all forms of discrimination; change the human heart to make
fairness the one, uncompromised ideal; render home foreclosures rarities instead of everyday affairs; re-open closed factories; serve as
a buffer between the American people and unwanted, nerve-shattering phone calls from creditors or fatten the bank accounts of the
average person — the pawn. You and me. So now we can all retreat to what we know. Divisions based on the obvious difference of skin
color and less obvious ways that we separate ourselves from one another. We are afforded the dubious luxury of falling back into narrow
definitions of Black and White, Republican and Democrat, rich and poor, rural and urban, gay and straight, House and Senate, and
privileged and generationally destitute.
For a brief moment we were larger than all this. Pawns stood beside other pawns to feel a strange and previously unknown brand of
power and unity. Polling places, around the country, felt different. There was a strange and different scent in the air. And the scent was
that of hope, not resignation to the idea that survival was as good as it got. The feeling of power that flowed was a result of hope and not
despair. The strength that swelled up and grew like a raging river happened when it was realized that the way to get even stronger was
to extend a hand to a fellow human being rather than stepping on his neck in a vain attempt to get to the front of the line. Is it audacious to
believe that we have the power to alter what will one day be considered history? I hope so. Other than the very small percentage, I think
it fair to say that the past has not been particularly gracious to any of us. Sure. Kinder to some than to others. But generally ungracious. In
my humble opinion it would be downright silly to abandon the notion of hope and the implied element of hope is action. Big action. Small
action. Headline action. Behind the scenes action. Economic action. Spiritual action. Political action. Any action we so desire. But action
is required. Hope is not synonymous with dreaming. Hope is dreaming plus. It is up to us to determine what the “plus” will be.
