BARACK OBAMA, Y U NO...

2012-05-13

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There was a fantastic TV series from 1999 to 2006 called "The West Wing". It is set in the West Wing of the US White House during a (fictional) Democratic Presidency and looks at the challenges the President and his staff have to face. It was one of the finest pieces of Television I have ever seen in my life and also a commercial and critical success. It is especially remarkable for its realism, which found expression in many ways. It never aired in Germany, so I first heard of the show when bloggers pointed out the eerie parallels to Real Life despite the Episodes having been shot years before the real campaign.

This is not entirely a coincidence, since the character of Matt Santos was modeled after Barack Obama. The campaign speeches of both men were surprisingly similar, and the parallels between fiction and reality grew even stronger in February 2012, when the African-American teenager Trayvon Martin is shot by the Latino American George Zimmerman, the local community watch coordinator, possibly in self-defense. In the series, the African-American teenager Ronnie Burke is shot by the Latino American Rafael Martinez, a police officer, possibly in self-defense. This puts the Latino Matt Santos in a delicate position; even though he wants to keep his race out of the campaign, racial tensions are increasing, and he is scheduled to speak in front of a black community.

Sadly, the similarities between those two personalities end here. In the show, Matt Santos holds a moving speech where he appeals to find compassion and refrain from assigning blame. In reality, Barack Obama explained how important it is to examine the case thorougly and then addressed the parents of the teenager with the words "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."


I have four major issues with that answer:
First, President Obama talks for most of the time about how the case must be closely investigated. Well, duh! If he intended to signal that we should not jump to conclusions, he should have said that we should not jump to conclusions. In this form, he only stated the obvious.
Second, President Obama clearly takes sides with Trayvon's parents, even though it was - and is - absolutely possible that Trayvon was simply a violent thug who needlessly attacked a law-abiding citizen. I understand it when newspapers and interest groups follow prejudices and one-sided agendas, but the President of the United States should firmly defend the assumption that one is innocent until proven guilty.
Third, President Obama bases his sympathy on the notion that the boy would look like his own offspring. He does so to express how personal this issue is to him, I get it. But arguing that the physical appearance of a person makes a case particularly sad is...unfortunate. It implies that a death is less deplorable if the person is of inferior race, sex, age or beauty. And that is not only morally questionable when it occurs in form of the Missing White Woman Syndrome. It is despicable here as well.
Fourth, President Obama failed to realize that this is a strong social issue. Perhaps not the case itself, but definitely the reaction to it. Fundamental problems in society are reflected in it: Race, crime, violence, justice, media bias, agitation, prejudgment and many more. He failed to present a strong Moral Vision. It was not just a chance for a distinctive Ethical Doctrine; I expected it. I demanded it. He is a leader, and this was a situation where leadership was required.


I have to say that President Obama disappointed me here. Compare his response to the speech Matt Santos gave in "The West Wing":

"Good morning. My prayers are with Ronnie Burke's family today. I know yours
are too. My prayers are with Officer Rafael Martinez and his family. They
are not struggling with the loss of a child but they are struggling with a
terrible truth. My prayers are with those families and with this one.

You know, I find myself on days like this casting around for someone to
blame. I blame the kid, he stole a car. I blame the parents, why couldn't
they teach him better. I blame the cop, did he need to fire. I blame every
one I can think of and I am filled with rage. And then I try and find
compassion. Compassion for the people I blame, compassion for the people I
do not understand, compassion. It doesn't always work so well. I remember
as a young man listening on the radio to Dr. King in 1968. He asked of us
compassion and we responded, not necessarily because we felt it but because he
convinced us that if we could find compassion, if we could express compassion,
that if we could just pretend compassion it would heal us so much more than
vengeance could. And he was right: it did but not enough. What we've learned
this week is that more compassion is required of us and an even greater
effort is required of us. And we are all, I think everyone of us, are tired.

We're tired of understanding, we're tired of waiting, we're tired of trying
to figure out why our children are not safe and why our efforts to try to
make them safe seem to fail. We're tired. But we must know that we have made
some progress and blame will only destroy it. Blame will breed more violence
and we have had enough of that.

Blame will not rid our streets of crime and drugs and fear and we have had
enough of that. Blame will not strengthen our schools or our families or
our workforce. Blame will rob us of those things and we have had enough
of that. And so I ask you today to dig down deep with me and find that
compassion in your hearts because it will keep us on the road. And we will
walk together and work together. And slowly, slowly, too slowly, things will
get better. God bless you. God bless you and God bless your children."


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