I'll make this quick.
It was de Tocqueville who famously declared that in a democracy, the people get the government that they deserve.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece decrying what at that time was the mere whisper of a possible Hillary Clinton nomination for secretary of state within the Obama administration. My reticence stemmed from an understandable fear of the drama and scandal that always seem to accompany the Clintons and the desire not to see either hung around the neck of Barack Obama. I would never go so far as to second guess Obama -- since I'm in no position to do that -- but I did wonder aloud whether a Clinton appointment would be worth the baggage attached to her. I said that the bad would likely outweigh the good -- that her level of experience wasn't worth risking the hassle.
Barack Obama obviously didn't think so -- he doesn't think so.
And he's probably right.
Within the past few weeks, our president-elect has brought adversaries together, fused Republicans and Democrats, and ignored the calls for heavy-handed political retribution from many of those who put him in office in the first place -- people like me. He's begun to create an administration that truly puts the common good above the whims and the petty grudge bloodlust of the lowest common denominator. He's doing something remarkable: fashioning a brave government that's beholden to no one but is instead beholden to everyone.
Put simply, he's being precisely the kind of leader that I had longed for: one who is infinitely wiser, more just, and less impertinent than I am.
Our new president is already proving that he genuinely represents "the better angels of our nature" -- and it's a beautiful thing to behold after everything we've been through.
With due respect to de Tocqueville, Barack Obama's not simply what we deserve.
He's better than we deserve.
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