Two mind-bending events: surprises never cease

Last week we witnessed two astounding, mind-bending events that, just a short time ago, would have seemed the stuff of fantasy.

In the first, scientists announced they had detected the gravitational waves - more than a billion years old, emanating from a distant galaxy - produced by two dying stars forming a single, massive black hole, thus confirming one of the predictions made 100 years ago by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

In the second, conservative columnist David Brooks produced a piece titled, “I Miss Barack Obama,” thus providing evidence that not all Republicans are living in a parallel universe.

Brooks, writing in The New York Times, said that he disagreed with Obama’s politics. He said he’s hoping the next presidency is a “philosophic departure.”

But he’s also come to appreciate Obama’s “character and leadership.”

That’s an amazing statement coming from a conservative. Republicans have spent the last eight years harping on Obama’s supposed lack of character and leadership.

The Republican debates are contests where candidates compete to see who can display the most personal contempt for the current president.

Gov. Chris Christie called Obama a “petulant child.” This from a man who eagerly accepted a helping hand from Obama after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in his state.

And, who at the time, thanked Obama and complimented him on the federal government’s response.

Sen. Marco Rubio keeps repeating - and repeating and repeating - that Obama is actually trying to undermine and weaken America. He accuses him of virtual treason.

And, of course, part of the reason we’ve seen the rise of Donald Trump is because the Republican establishment tolerated his “birther” nonsense as long as they considered it useful.

Brooks, on the other hand, lauded Obama’s “basic integrity.”

“The Obama Administration,” he wrote, “has been remarkably scandal free.”

He noted how the Reagan and Clinton second terms were marred by the Iran-contra and Lewinsky scandals.

Not so with Obama.

Brooks continued: “He and his wife have not only displayed superior integrity themselves, they have mostly attracted and hired people with high personal standards.”

Yes, that’s from a conservative. Or perhaps from a pod person who has snatched his body.

But either way, it was refreshing.

Here’s a recent example of Obama’s leadership, so obvious that no one saw it: the standoff in Oregon.

Self-styled anti-government militia members seized a government building to protest the prison sentences handed down to two arsonists.

Think about that. Arson not only results in destruction of property, but also risks the lives of others, including firefighters responding to the blaze.

That’s why it’s such a serious crime.

If Obama were the left-wing ideologue that Republicans claim, he would have responded quickly and harshly to what could be termed an armed insurrection against the federal government.

Instead, he let the situation play out, saying nothing to aggravate a volatile situation. Those men were looking for a fight. Obama didn’t give them one. He showed great restraint and forbearance.

That’s leadership. Candidates like Trump and Christie - and I could go on - would have you believe that leadership means bellowing like a wounded boar.

If you don’t think the standoff was that serious or potentially dangerous, consider a slightly altered set of facts and a different president.

Instead of right-wing militia-types seizing the building, say it was a group of heavily armed black men, or heaven forbid, Muslims, who were protesting the imprisonment of two arsonists.

Fox News and others would be demanding action, stirring up hysteria about a Muslim caliphate.

How would a President Cruz react to such a threat? Judging by his rhetoric, I would imagine carpet-bombing. Who knows?

We are fortunate to have a president who remains calm. That’s the point Brooks was making.

Among the more tiresome charges against the president is that he’s “divisive” and “polarizing.”

Here’s how that happened. When Obama made the mistake of saying he could improve the tone of political debate in Washington, he handed Republicans a gift.

They could pound Obama mercilessly and then blame him for failing to raise the level of discourse in D.C. It was a two-for-one deal.

Obama is “divisive” in the same way as Jackie Robinson.

The first African-American to play major league baseball, Robinson could also be charged with being divisive figure - that is, if you’re willing to fault him for the controversy that erupted because people objected to a black man playing, literally, on a level playing field with whites.

Robinson, of course, proved he could play.

In the bloodsport of politics, so has Obama. Not everybody in the conservative universe is willing to accept that. But Brooks, at least, showed there’s hope.


Don Flood is a former newspaper editor living near Lewes. He can be reached at floodpolitics@gmail.com.