( While I didn’t intend for this to become a political forum, I’m sure you all understand, there is no way not to be political this week. More topics to come, I promise. Thanks for all the great comments!)
Today is a great day in history. Thankfully enough of the country has gotten beyond the rhetoric and have decided to vote in a way that makes sense. We got passed the fact that our he doesn’t look like all our other presidents. We got over that he has an exotic name, even one which sounds similar to a couple of our enemies.
Obama’s campaign is not just about voting for a black president, although the sociological implications of this are not to be underestimated (or as the current president would say ‘misunderestimated’).
It’s about having someone who is educated and intelligent enough for the position and has advisers whose collective experience easily shoots down the argument of Barak’s lack of experience.
Our new president(!), Barak Obama, has not only the charisma, but the substance and potential of a John F. Kennedy or Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Don’t take my word for it. Someone much more qualified to say so, JFK’s own daughter, said the same thing:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.htmlMembers of the
It wasn’t enough that we’ve had an administration that in eight years has managed to destroy the foundations of our civil liberties and ruined our government’s credibility. It wasn’t enough that the opposition, John McCain and Sarah Palin, ran an embarrassing campaign and would have continued this devastating path for our country.
No folks, sadly, it took all this and a crumbling economic system to make it possible to elect someone finally deserving of the the job, who just happens to be our first African-American president. But I’m just happy it happened.
The Obama campaign was about very real issues: Health care. College tuition. Mortgages. Economics.
The McCain campaign, meanwhile, was about a whole lot of nothing. Mavericks. Hockey Moms. Joe The Plumber.
In the Oct, 20, 2008 cover story for Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria, wrote a brilliant article on the economy called ‘The Bright Side.’ while the article is diplomatically non-partison, there is one part which struck a chord: “Look who is advising Barak Obama- Warren Buffet (the world’s most successful investor and as of this year, wealthiest American) Paul Volcker (Federal Reserve Chairman under President’s Carter and Reagan) and Robert Rubin (Treasure Secretary under President Clinton). It is more likely that what will come from their efforts will be a better-regulated financial system that, while producing less-extravagent profits, will be more stable and secure.
It is my hope that part of what happens as a result of recent events is a country that is better informed and better educated. It is paying attention which has caused a majority of our country to wake up and realize that they’ve been cheated by Bush/Cheney and this would continue under McCain/Palin. Perhaps this is why education is so ignored by the GOP campaign.
Besides, they can’t devote their energy to education. They’re too busy questioning other peoples’ patriotism.
While we’re on that subject, let’s talk about the right wing fringe of the country, a who make a platform of questioning the Americanism of their political enemies. This group includes Sarah Palin, Bill O’Rielly, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter etc… I’m willing to bet you that, no matter what Barak Obama achieves has president, even if he saves the US from slipping into turmoil, there is nothing he can do to get a positive word from any of these people.
Similarly there has never been a positive word uttered from them about Bill Clinton, his administration or the state of the US during that time, even though a vast majority of Americans feel things were much better under Clinton.
Nope, these people would rather have our country be slowly destroyed than admit they or the politicians they support are wrong. They would gladly take eight more years of Bush/Cheney if they could, and continued erosion to the foundation of the United States. They risk the future of this country for their conservative ideology.
I don’t know about you, but to me, that behavior sounds pretty, well, Un-American.
I would never bring this up except that these are the people who base their careers on saying that about others. Blind support of your ideology is not true patriotism.
Barak Obama and the current Democratic party, do not need to stoop so low as to question other peoples love of their country. They have real, meaningful things to deal with. They see the potential we have to lift the country out of this mess and reaching our full potential. That’s patriotism.
Today, I’m really proud of the USA. Obama’s victory represents of true positive change in the country, something we haven’t had since the 60’s.
Of course, our moment of joy is short lived, as there is so much for him to do and he arguably faces bigger challenges than any incoming president since Lincoln. He will be held to higher standards for that, as well as the fact that he is African-American.
But this great moment is happening now and for that, we should all be proud.