Bo As Metaphor

A dear friend of mine recently moved to our nation’s capital; or as I like to call it, the place where civility and efficiency go to die. He was sharing stories about people he had met, which NPR anchor was actually a complete ass, and how the world of Congressional staff was like law school on a meth and Mountain Dew diet. I laughed when he told me that a friend of his had, at some point, been walking the Obama’s dog, Bo. Imagining a bright young graduate of one of America’s best universities as Executive Dog-Walker seems like an appropriate depiction of the recession. We spun off into a small tangential discussion of the dog, and then it kind of struck me that this canine is a pretty apt metaphor for the Obama Presidency thus far.

President Obama, as you might recall, arrived in office to the sound of cheering throngs of Americans convinced he really had the audacity to instill hope. I was among that hopeful crowd. The inauguration made me tearfully proud to be American. I’d say I’m still hopeful – but what was once a fire is now a flicker. Anyway, when the Obamas announced they wanted a dog, they were encouraged to adopt a shelter animal. Any good liberal knows that the poor, tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free applies to our animal friends as well, right? For a while, it seemed they would actually do this. What a symbolic move this may have been. The leader of the free world - a man with unparalleled power – would choose to lift up one downtrodden canine soul. Maybe a mutt wouldn’t be fashionable, but it was the right thing to do. Enter Ted Kennedy. In one fell swoop, some hapless pup’s dream of eating Filet Mignon on the South Lawn were dashed by the doggy equivalent of a Hermes Birkin bag. The audacity.

Senator Kennedy (may he rest in peace) is often viewed as a true liberal’s liberal. But for all his pros, one aspect of his political past really burns my biscuits. Cape Wind. Disgust. Just to say it out loud sends a shiver of hypocrisy down my spine. As a former member of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, he (and other politicians including Mitt Romney and John Kerry) favored sustainable energy and reducing our crippling dependence on coal and petroleum. Sure, sounds great! But not this wind farm, because HELLO – obviously, you are supposed to put that kind of thing near poor people. Stated succinctly, the project enjoyed support from the citizens of Massachusetts and many citizens of Cape Cod. But – GASP! - you simply cannot build in view of the Kennedy Compound. Self-serving politics at its unjustifiable worst.

"It’s politics, stupid." I find myself slightly altering George Stephanopoulos’ famous quote on the economy (emphasis on the stupid) when I wonder how my once audacious President became Neville Chamberlain to John Boehner’s Hitler. (I’m sorry. Even now, this feels like blasphemy. But alas . . . ) In the Washington Post today, Ezra Klein asks “What happened to the fierce urgency of now?” and “Where is President Obama?” Well, I guess he’s busy making difficult concessions. Stated differently, he’s forgoing the shelter mutt for the more politically palatable Portuguese Water Dog.

This brings me to me. Or, us. The young and idealistic set. Man, we talk a good talk, don’t we? But often our own actions don’t square with the rhetoric. I used to decry the heinous environmental impacts of factory farms, but I still ate some of what they were producing. Finally, I came to the conclusion that if this is something I really disdain, then I should stop eating meat and start supporting my local farmers to the greatest extent possible. So I did. And the burden of my own hypocrisy lifting felt pretty good, I must say. As the government faces shut down, we all know we can’t count on them to make the needed changes. Instead of solely arguing on the merits of cutting social welfare programs, volunteer in your local homeless shelter. Go to city council meetings. Work to fix this problem at home. Do something about it. Then argue. If you’re working for change, then argue to your heart’s content. Don’t just know enough to sounds smart casually debating with a friend over coffee, find something that drives you, delve into the problem, and find some way to make yourself useful.

I still have faith in our President. When he is on his game, he is remarkable. I know the “fierce urgency of now” is there, somewhere underneath all the politics-as-usual and metaphorical gifting of designer dogs. But until that’s found, it can’t be denied that our government is failing us; from the left and the right. So, take your old copy of “The Audacity of Hope” and tape your picture to the cover. Until Congress collectively pulls its head from the proverbial ass, we are all we’ve got. Team Shelter Dog.