An Unfamilar Feeling April 6, 2009

I caught part of Obama’s speech to the Turkish parliament this morning on CNN, and from the brief section I was able to watch, I was extremely impressed.

I say this as the president of a country that not very long ago made it hard for somebody who looks like me to vote, much less be president of the United States. But it is precisely that capacity to change that enriches our countries. Every challenge that we face is more easily met if we tend to our own democratic foundation. This work is never over. That’s why, in the United States, we recently ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. That’s why we prohibited – without exception or equivocation – the use of torture. All of us have to change. And sometimes change is hard.

Another issue that confronts all democracies as they move to the future is how we deal with the past. The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history. Facing the Washington Monument that I spoke of is a memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed those who were enslaved even after Washington led our revolution. Our country still struggles with the legacies of slavery and segregation, the past treatment of Native Americans.

Human endeavor is by its nature imperfect. History is often tragic, but unresolved, it can be a heavy weight. Each country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past can help us seize a better future.

I’ve not heard many politicians even admit to the past misdeeds of our country, and to here our president speak of such things is extremely refreshing to me. Bush was not the type of person to ever admit to doing anything wrong, which is why many outside the U.S. have lost respect for our leaders. Being able to admit you were wrong, to admit imperfection, and to acknowledge that the U.S. makes mistakes (horrible, consequence-riddled mistakes) and can change… well, that’s something that gives me pride in my leader. For the first time ever.

I might have to get used to this pride thing. It feels kinda funny, like an itchy new sweater.  I’m used to my worn, comfortable righteous indignation. But… I’m open to new things. Maybe, if I like the way this fits, I might throw out my ragged, ill-fitting shame and my tattered anger. We’ll see.

UPDATE: Aparently, his comments were well received.

Kiran Chetry: In all, how was our president received in the muslim world?

Hisham Melhem: Well, judging by the positive headlines, by the live coverage that my network and others gave his speech yesterday in front of the Turkish parliament, the Muslim world likes what the president has been saying. Not only in Turkey, but since he was elected. And I think his words and, more importantly, his actions, have resonated positively throughout the Arab world and the Muslim world. People realize that there is a new tone, that there is a new content, that there is a new language. Gone are the combustible words that President Bush used to use like Islamo [sic] Fascism. Now the new president talks about engagement, he talks about partnership, he talks about respect, mutual interests. President Bush seemed to many Arabs and Muslims every time he talks to them as if he is talking down to them, as if he is lecturing them. This new president is trying to engage them as potential partners in the fight against the real enemy of the United States and the real enemy of these governments which is al Qaeda. The president doesn’t talk about the war on terror in general because the war on terror is a war on a tactic. He has a well-defined enemy called al Qaeda. He doesn’t clump like, President Bush, all Islamic groups. He focuses only on al Qaeda. All of these things, they are nuances and people recognizes nuances and they appreciate that.