Politics requires two things: ideals and the ability to put them into practice. Absence of either makes good politics impossible. It will be some time before history passes judgment on the accomplishments of U.S. President Barack Obama. It is already safe to say, however, that his embrace of such lofty ideals as "a world without nuclear weapons" has helped made him a symbol of good sense in America even as anti-intellectualism gains ground around the world.
In his farewell address, delivered on Jan. 10 in Chicago, Obama made an appeal for solidarity: "Democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity -- the idea that for all our outward differences, we're all in this together." These words echoed the message of the keynote address he gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which catapulted him to national fame. In that speech he said, "There's not a black America and white America ... there's the United States of America."
