Jim Wallis reminds us the significance of an event that happened last week in American politics. It was the handshake in the White House between Bush and Obama. Most news agencies brushed over it as a regular 'great' news in the week already filled with 'great' stories in the presidential politics. The public in general, including me, absorbed that event just with an enlarged sense of curiosity and bits of admiration for their leaders.
That event, however, is much more than a symbolic gesture. It shows an example that many nations would probably envy. Will the highly powerful Commander in Chief in the country hand over his entrusted authority to the next person, even if that person has an opposing political orientation? It reflects the greater side of the American politics. A tradition that was set in precedent very early on in the 1800s, when John Adams had to transfer the presidency to Thomas Jefferson, a ferocious politcal opponent. That event reassures our hope that, no matter how ridiculous the political theatre may seemed, the human soul will and can prevail against the lust for power. So, like Wallis said, don't take the handshake for granted.
Read Wallis's latest blog here if you are interested.
http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3812
That event, however, is much more than a symbolic gesture. It shows an example that many nations would probably envy. Will the highly powerful Commander in Chief in the country hand over his entrusted authority to the next person, even if that person has an opposing political orientation? It reflects the greater side of the American politics. A tradition that was set in precedent very early on in the 1800s, when John Adams had to transfer the presidency to Thomas Jefferson, a ferocious politcal opponent. That event reassures our hope that, no matter how ridiculous the political theatre may seemed, the human soul will and can prevail against the lust for power. So, like Wallis said, don't take the handshake for granted.
Read Wallis's latest blog here if you are interested.
http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3812