The Fourth Name
Jun 7th, 2008 | 9 responses
Yes, this is personal. I am living in a time of fear of the fourth name. The fear I have, of the fourth name, is specific to me as a citizen of the United States living in a specific time and space. Young Americans, under age 40, won’t feel the dread that follows me along this summer like an undercurrent of daily living, just as I am indifferent, relatively, to political assassinations (Caesar, Ferdinand, Lincoln, Garfield) occurring before my lifetime.
It affects the way I feel about hope. The morning after he secured the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama started acting presidential. I believe that any proven leader on the globe today understands that Barack Obama is a leader. You can’t fool leaders, with leadership-like behavior. That warms me with hope, and chills me with fear, because the leaders will break into two camps. Barack Obama is about to come under furious attack, from leaders who are also chilled with fear.
But furious attacks over the direction of leadership is not unique to my time and space. I do not fear the fourth name rising from the ranks of the leaders. I dread names that would otherwise spin anonymously, forever.
Obama published a book, “The Audacity of Hope.” Ultimately, in his view, hope held up against chill can warm the atmosphere enough to bring the hopeful and the chilled together around the same leadership table, or the same kitchen table, so that Americans “are becoming more, not less, alike.” Where do the Americans go from there? Towards united.
After the last seven years, hearing hope expressed thusly makes me feel downright toasty. Obama’s confidence in that hope is not a plank in a platform, but a cornerstone in a foundation, I believe, that allows him to transition so smoothly from candidate into leader. It has had a democratizing effect. I am not going to vote on the bases of party, race, gender, or religion. I am going to vote on the basis of leadership, which happens to be available this time.
It makes me nervous. Americans living in my space and time are committed to living in an America whose history in our lifetimes has been edited by three names. Three names! Where unrealized history might have been.
What would America be like, if John F. Kennedy were 91 years old this year? That reality is lost to us, because of a man’s name, which, in that reality, would be unknown to us today.
What would America be like, if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were 79 years old this year? That reality is lost to us, because of a second name, which, in that reality, would be unknown to us today.
What would America be like, if Robert F. Kennedy were 82 years old this year? That reality is lost to us, because of a third name, which, in that reality, would be unknown to us today.
This week, 40 years to the week after Bobby Kennedy went down, Obama stepped so effortlessly into national leadership on a foundation – no longer a message – of hope. The media has already noted that the Democratic nominee’s acceptance speech at the convention in August will be 40 years to the day after Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech. This is what America is like in the summer of 2008. A dream of hope. God, I hope. I’m not sure America can endure a fourth name, in one man’s lifetime.
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9 Responses to “The Fourth Name”
Michael, that is a fantastic post. Thanks!
Let's all hope 2008… 2009… will allow us to grow, not grieve.
Thanks Michael.
What The World Needs Now (Abraham,Martin and John)
Extraordinary piece, Michael. You wrote about a part of our history that has been written about and talked about so many times that it's difficult to write about it in a fresh, new way. But that is exactly what you have done. I thank you.
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A wondeerful, heartfelt essay!
I'm frustrated that we can't stop the frenzied pace of news cycles long enough to properly savor this moment in American history and the milestone it represents.
This obsession with Senator's Obama's assassination can't be good for the country. Deranged minds could glom onto it as a Prophecy That Must Be Fulfilled. Let's close the Book of Revelations and discuss the candidates’ characters and positions on the issues.
Weightman,
You're right, in one sense, but you're too late. The cat's been out of the bag for some time now.
This post is exceptionally discrete on the subject , as a matter of fact.
Then, too, how can we commemorate those who have died without noting that they are, indeed, dead?
Fears only grow if they don't have the safety valve of expression. Dwelling on these things is not healthy, but a strict and deliberate prohibition of mention in relevant times is equally unhealthy.
This is one of those relevant times.
Weightman, it's not the Book of Revelations. It's a single revelation that John had on the island of Patmos — see Revelation 1:1, 9. And just for the record, calling Obama the Anti-Christ (a term never used in Revelation, BTW) says more about the ignorance of the person making the charge than it does about Senator Obama. I don't need to read something into a sometimes confusing book of the New Testament to vote for someone other than Obama. His Senate record gives me three solid reasons to oppose him:
1. He is one of a very few – Republican or Democrat – who voted against a ban on partial birth abortion. You can't spout hope in your rhetoric and vote for the hopelessness symbolized by the act of abortion;
2. He is without a rudder when it comes to foreign policy. Having voted against calling Iran's Republican Guard a terrorist organization, he now panders in a speech to a Jewish group, flipping his position, and calling the group terrorists. What was THAT?
3. His past association with black racists is troubling. Twenty years of happy association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright – who knows nothing of the colorblindness of Dr. King's philosophy – cannot be undone by a late repudiation of the man when he became a political liability. Racism in all forms is abhorrent, no matter the color of the skin of the racist.
The best thing I can say about Senator Obama is that he's an exceptionally gifted orator. Beyond that, I fail to see what qualifies him for the most delicate and difficult position in the free world.
Manchester,
I don't read your Bible., but I take moral and ethical issues very seriously.
In our country, converting to your religion is not required..
1. partial birth abortion
I think it is highly immoral to disregard the mother in the room., a citizen.
When it comes to making medical decisions, doctors should be referring to their medical texts, not to their unscientific convictions If a doctor can't or won't act in the interests of the mother, he should be ethiccally bound to turn the case over to someone who can..
2A/ Iran's Republican Guard.
Obama was wise to oppose name-calling legislation. Feel-good resolutions that accomplish nothing except an escalation of rhetoric, is not a foreigh policy position. It''s meaningless posturing, and a distraction from dealing seriously with Iran.
2B. speech to AIPAC
There is a difference between voting for a counter-productive and meaningless resolution and expressing an opinion on the subject. Two generals may agree on who the enemy is, but still difffer widely about the most appropriate tactics to defeat him and how public statements play into that. AIPAC presents a special problem,, because it represents only one faction in internal Israeli politics. i would think that we can all agree that the US should not interfere in Israeli politics,
3. Rev. Wright and black racism.
The very fact that you make such a claim indicates that you have not read much of Rev. Wright's writings, his theology, or the focus of his work. Video clip excerpts,, taken out of context, do not constitute knowledge about a subject. Anyway, Wright helped Obama obtain religious faith, not a blueprint for his own vision of how to deal with the world's challenges.
As Obama is the product of two races, black and white, it's ludicrouws to imagine he would be bigoted against one-half of himself.and one half of his family.
I respect anyone's freedom of choice among candidates, but I respect the choice more when it's based on matters of substance instead of unsubstantiated accusaions.
PS WHAT DOES YOUR COMMENT HAVE TO DO WITH THE POST?