The Audacity of Empathy

I'm reading The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.

I had to take a break from Harry Potter. I'm on the fourth book and I still like them. But all Harry all the time?

So I went to the library to see if anything struck my fancy.

My man Obama is pretty fancy.

I'm only on chapter 3, "Our Constitution", but the thing that strikes me (besides him being fancy and all) is his constant thread of empathy. On the same page, practically in the same paragraph, he can present an informed and sharp criticism of President Bush and, at the same time, strive for and often achieve a genuine empathy for the President.

Not a contrived sympathy like "oh the poor man is an idiot" or "he's a lunatic" or "he's got daddy issues". These are easy criticisms to make and I'm guilty of making them myself. I've tried hard to keep my criticisms reasonable and thoughtful and to not attack anything personal. At least on my blog, out of consideration mostly for my sister-in-law, Annette. She and my brother are coming for a visit this week. Darn Republicans.

Anywho, the high level of empathy and compassion Obama strives for in all his interactions and criticisms of peoples in all strains of politics and the general population is impressive to me. I admire that. That kind of person is very long-sighted. Very eyes-on-the-prize kind of person. But also very capable of seeing what is in front of one's face. And willing to do the hard work of that little thing we like to call Democracy. It's easy to dictate. Infinitely harder to create consensus.

Bring it, Obama.