An extraordinary life made ordinary [0]
It’s really fascinating to observe how two people can have two very different views of the same third party. The human mind is very good at being selective by focusing on some things and ignoring others. Two letters about Obama in today’s New York Times are a good illustration of that.
The immediate cause of the letters was David Brooks saying that Obama’s accomplishments lie in the future. He’s a conservative, and Obama’s a liberal, so of course this was not meant as a compliment about Obama’s potential, but as a criticism of Obama’s alleged lack of accomplishments in the past.
One writer responded as follows (I’ve changed the format for the sake of clarity, but the words are unchanged):
Mr. Obama’s accomplishments include
- overcoming the challenges of growing up with a single mother
- on a small income,
- heading The Harvard Law Review,
- doing community organizing instead of taking a lucrative job,
- writing two best sellers at a young age (before running for president)
- and inspiring an apathetic, disaffected generation not only to vote but also to truly feel part of the democratic process.
Of course one could have added that he became a law professor, beat an extraordinary field of Democratic candidates for president, became a member of the Illinois State Senate, sponsored 233 health care and health bills, 125 poverty and public assistance bills, and 112 crimes, corrections, and death penalty bills — to name but a few — and did all this despite being black in a country where skin color can be a major impediment to progress. But letters have to be kept short, I guess.
To any unbiased person, I would have thought that the son of an immigrant achieving all this in the face of financial and cultural handicaps is the epitome of the American Dream. But bias is a powerful thing. A second writer ignores, is unaware of, or simply doesn’t care about those accomplishments, and writes:
As did his wife, Michelle, Senator Obama tried to take an otherwise ordinary life and turn it into something exceptional. Does Senator Obama’s going to college, getting married, raising a family and, generally, reaching the age of 47 really represent an outstanding accomplishment? I think not.
Being the first black major-party nominee for president is Senator Obama’s only real accomplishment.
According to this writer, Senator Obama has done little but grow up and be a normal adult. He’s had an “ordinary life.” Oh, and got nominated as president, which is at least a “real accomplishment.” But the rest simply didn’t happen or doesn’t matter. If you’re a certain kind of Republican.
It’s a difficult practice, and one not much encouraged in these partisan times, to praise one’s opponents. It’s not something I do much myself, and that I should do more. I know I’m at least capable of it. But it’s astonishing to me that someone would go so far in dismissing real accomplishments in what I could only call an extraordinary life.


A curious thing. The pilot and writer, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, said: