I know this sort of bipartisan gesture stimulates a lot of eye-rolling and longsuffering sighs in progressive quarters, but Barack Obama’s willingness to honor John McCain on the eve of his own big day is a refreshing sign of hope. We can’t sacrifice everything for unity, but we must sacrifice much if we are serious about dragging America out of the culture war quicksand. Years will pass before we see the end of our current economic woes. Our involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan will bring great sorrow and no glory at all. We are spending trillions of dollars we don’t have on self-indulgent addicts to instant gratification. No one understands the military and economic challenges before us. Mr. Obama has no simple solutions and he knows it.
We no longer have the luxury of a culture war; the challenges we face are too grave. And so I thank God for a president with the grace and wisdom to reach out to the people who didn’t vote for him. By embracing John McCain, Barack Obama is making himself America’s president. The good will soon dissipate, but moments like this come rarely and will live in memory when the petty squabbling is mercifully forgotten.
Barack Obama is a skilled orator, a savvy stage manager and a clever politician, but his actions in recent days allow us to hope that he is much more. Obama possesses many of the qualities that made Martin Luther King great. King was a prophet; Obama is a politician. King spoke truth to power; Obama’s task is to drag the enormous power of the American presidency within hailing distance of the truth. Dr. King had the humility to make the most of his rare moment. My fervent prayer is that our new president shares that humility.
In honoring the man he bested in the recent election, Barack Obama takes a bold and confident stride down the right road.
In Bipartisan Appeal, Obama Praises McCain
By Katharine Q. SeelyeIn a major bipartisan appeal on the eve of his inauguration, Barack Obama called John McCain a hero and praised his history as someone who has sought common ground — without mentioning that Mr. McCain evinced little of that side during the presidential campaign.
“There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain,” Mr. Obama said tonight at a dinner he is hosting for Mr. McCain at the Washington Hilton. “It is what he has strived for and achieved throughout his life. It is built into the very content of his character.”
The dinner and Mr. Obama’s strong praisefor his former rival seem like a down payment on the cooperation that Mr. Obama is hoping for on his legislative agenda. Having Mr. McCain on his side could go a long way toward greasing the skids.
Mr. Obama is hosting two dinners tonight for two Republicans — Mr. McCain, his rival for the presidency, and Colin Powell, who backed Mr. Obama in October in one of the most full-throated endorsements by a member of the opposing party.
Mr. Obama is also hosting a dinner for his vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., but it is the Republican fetes that have set Washington abuzz in a town well on its way to buzzing itself over the top. The dinners are also helping to raise money for Mr. Obama’s inaugural celebrations.
At the McCain dinner, Mr. Obama said that with his work on subjects like campaign finance and immigration, Mr. McCain had crossed the aisle “for the good of his country.” His motivation, Mr. Obama said, was “a pure and deeply felt love of his country that comes from the painful knowledge of what life is like without it.”
Mr. McCain was introduced by a fellow Republican, his close friend and wingman during the campaign, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. And his other wingman, Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, who earned much enmity from Democrats by appearing at the Republican convention, also attended.
Not invited was Mr. McCain’s vice presidential running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.
Mr. Obama is on his way next to the dinner for Mr. Powell.
Friends of Justice 
It depends what we’re being asked to compromise on. I think it’s good not to hate everyone from the other party–we all have to live with each other. And far too much is made of the culture war, of which I’m thoroughly sick. But if we’re asked to compromise on things like torture, civil liberties, and other issues that deeply affect human lives, then no. That’s not why I voted for Obama.
That said, I’m fine with him holding a dinner for McCain. We do need to live with each other, and if Obama can patch over some of the gaping wounds between Dems and Republicans, and in the process appeal to the good parts of McCain’s character, that’s a good thing.
Listening to President Obamas swearing in speach right now. It’s pretty good, got to admit. The emphasis on alternative energy development is a bit too much for the short term. His stating that WE Americans can not continue to use more than our share of world resourses can only mean our standard of living must decrease to that of the rest of the world. Are you ready to sacrifice?
As a comment on Sen McCain they are more alike than most people realize. Just research their common large donor, George Soros!
As one of the pundits noted yesterday, “This [D.C.] is a partisan town.” It has been ever since the days of Hamilton and Jefferson. There have always been the Hamiltonians who believed that some people were born to be more equal and freer than others. The Jeffersonians in theory but not in practice held a contrary view. That divide is a partisan divide which will continue. I believe that Obama will push for policies in the Jeffersonian ideal, and Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, and their political kin will try to subvert those policies in favor of those who are more equal and freer. I stopped by to see Thelma this morning, and she said she cried tears of joy all day yesterday. But I rejoice with her, and hope with her for a very long stride down a better road than we have seen since the so-called Reagan revolution. I congratulate Barack Obama for extending a hand of friendship across the partisan divide, but I hope and am confident that he will recognize that the divide is still there, and that he will not give away the inherited ideals of freedom and equality for a bowl of lentil soup.