Earlier Saturday, I covered Bill Maher’s call for unity and refusal to demonize those across the aisle.
Here’s something not quite the same.
Following news organizations’ declaration of Joe Biden as the presidential victor (though the determination process, as of this posting, isn’t over), former First Lady Michelle Obama took to Instagram to celebrate for Joe and his running mate Kamala — whose parents are Jamaican and Indian. According to Michelle, the dynamic duo will bring to the White House something that hasn’t been there, it would seem, since she herself left:
“I’m beyond thrilled that my friend Joe Biden and our first Black and Indian-American woman Vice President, Kamala Harris, are headed to restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House.”
“Our country sorely needs it,” she pointed out.
And she praised those who have dared to fight for democracy:
“Thank you to all of you who poured every ounce of your hope and determination into this democracy over these past four years, registering voters, getting them to the polls, keeping folks informed. More votes were cast in this election than ever before. It’s because of you.”
Mrs. Obama also offered a warning — this is just the start:
“And after we celebrate — and we should all take a moment to exhale after everything we’ve been through — let’s remember that this is just a beginning.
She reminded readers that millions (roughly 70, in fact) of Americans endorse terrible things — lies, hate, chaos, division…the usual mess:
“It’s a first step. Voting in one election isn’t a magic wand, and neither is winning one. Let’s remember that tens of millions of people voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division.”
As for the division, as I’ve previously noted, calling one set of viewpoints such and not another is inconsistent.
For example, no president of the last several decades has been more “divisive” toward conservatives than Barack Obama, just as Trump has appeared so to those on the Left.
If you define division by whether someone agrees with you, then you’re not really talking about division. You’re talking about disagreement, which is what politics is — it’s the opposition of methodology in addressing the national interest.
And in every case, there is someone who disagrees.
Continuing, Michelle did suggest reaching out to all of you seduced by the bad stuff:
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach out to these folks in the years ahead and connect with them on what unites us.”
It seems to me that calling them adherents of lies, hate, chaos, and division may not be the most effective approach.
Nevertheless, it’s up the hill we go:
“[W]e’ve also got to recognize that the path to progress will always be uphill. We’ll always have to scrape and crawl up toward that mountaintop. And two years from now, four years from now, there will once again be no margin for error. We see now the reality that we can’t take even the tiniest part of our democracy for granted. Every single vote must count — and every single one of us must vote. And as a country, we should be making it easier, not harder to cast a ballot.”
Of course, the social media post might be called divisive itself. Secondly, to those accused of supporting lies, the accusation is just that.
And ’round and ’round we go.
But this is politics.
And this is division.
And to a great extent, no matter who is declared the final winner, it will continue to be.
But I hope we come together much more than the last several years — including those helmed nationally by President Obama.
-ALEX
See more pieces from me:
Bill Maher’s Excellent Adventure Into American Unity Will Blow Your Mind
If Biden’s Been Elected, What Ideas Won?
Find all my RedState work here.
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