Deepak Chopra: Does a New Start Have a Chance?

Barack Obama's eloquence in the defense of idealism hasn't changed since Iowa, but reaction to it has. He is accused of favoring uplifting rhetoric over hard policy choices. Some commentators complain that for them, the thrilling speeches of the primary season now produce little or no reaction. Obama speaks of a renewed world, but most old-timers, cynical or not, expect the world -- especially the one inside the Beltway -- to roll on without much change. Inertia will prevail over hope. We are fortunate, however, that Obama himself doesn't believe any of this. "Rhetoric" is what George Bush offered when he promised compassionate conservatism and insisted that he was a uniter, not a divider. The words were a cover up and a pretense, empty of sincere meaning. All along, one supposes, Bush's right-wing agenda was firmly in place.... [read full story]