Lubbock Left

President Obama gave an amazing speech to the Notre Dame class of 2009 on Sunday.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTpB5_-X4vk (shown above)
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwcFJR1xnD4
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx7Ly3T2Ts0
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8gMKuGGdiU

(or read an AP transcript of Obama’s Notre Dame speech)

The Pro Life crowd was set to make a spectacle out of Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame, as though inviting someone to speak implies agreement on every issue. Throughout last week, one could smell the happiness of right-wing pundits in the air as they rubbed their hands together and said something like, “Aha! Now we’ve got you! We’ll show what a horrible pro choice monster you are and watch you squirm under the spotlight!”

But, as is usually the case when Obama’s critics attack his position on a divisive issue, the President was able to elevate the discussion:

Because when we … open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe — that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.

That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions.”

So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let’s reduce unintended pregnancies. Let’s make adoption more available. Let’s provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women.” Those are things we can do.

And the crowd went wild.

President Obama understands that real, meaningful debate cannot happen if two sides merely state their views and call the other side names. We cannot make caricatures of each other, he said. “Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words,” he said. President Obama is reminding us of the method of debate and discovery that will get us somewhere useful. Citing the Eisenhower civil rights commission, he reminded us that — even when we disagree passionately — we can find common ground on which to build.

By contrast, the method of choice for far-right pundits involves shouting at us while the planet burns because we can’t make any progress on the big problems before us (the economy, energy, health care, climate change, you name it). All that matters is that they’ve got THE TRUTH, and by golly they will hammer you with THE TRUTH until you also get THE TRUTH. When was the last time that you heard a Limbaugh or a Hannity or an O’Reilly change their mind when presented with new evidence? Or try to understand the reasoning and beliefs of the other side? Or see a way to make progress that satisfies all sides of an issue?

Thank goodness we have a President who can march directly into the debate of an issue as divisive as abortion and show us a better method for having the discussion.