I will remember this day. It was crazy, busy, lots of running and jumping, at least a lot for me. Run around, run around, bank, pay bills, prescriptions, shopping for groceries, gas the car ($52+ to fill a Ford Focus?!), phone calls in between. I finally got everything settled by 6:30pm. I headed for a friend's house to help her with her computer. As usual, I checked the radio. I passed by various incarnations and genres of rock and stuff and kept searching.
I flipped the dial and I was lucky enough to catch most of Senator Obama's candidacy declaration speech. Hours later, I'm hearing one of the MSNBC heads say that Obama is always gracious. I think this speech proved that and I say it's time America acquired a genuinely gracious leader.
I'm sure there will be plenty of darkness and disagreement to between now and November, I mean it IS a US presidential election. Still, I am encouraged by American politics, maybe for the first time since I started voting. But I read something profound today. “Reality is Ralph…” is the original line, thank you Steven King. We can make a new reality, once that works for all of us. The more improbable it looks perhaps the more chance that it will happen.
What an incredibly effective speech! He honestly acknowledged the worthiness and the contribution of a stalwart opponent who appears to have lost by a relative hair. He then moved on to actively engage a respected war hero and senator without impeaching his honor. And then he put forth an unabashedly liberal agenda. (Dare I say.”platform?”)
He presented the liberal agenda as though it was the most logical, common sense thing in the world. Of course, I agree that many parts are. You don't have to agree with me, but I will say that as poorly as the other side has performed over the last, oh say, 38 years, or over the span of my voting career, intelligent liberalism has earned us a chance at some radical change
Universal Health Care is necessary. The only people who don't acknowledge that fact are politicians and other people who already have health care. (Take a look at my article on the idiocy of the American health insurance industry and the American Medicaid programs. Sorry, that's one of the issues I feel especially strongly about.)
Obama got it right with the whole end the war/support our troops thing. He actually made sense, and he didn't sugarcoat the reality of it. He put blame where it belonged, and asked the people most responsible to take responsibility for fixing things.
And there was the economy. You don't even want to get me started on my feelings about the current American economic priorities. Senator Obama actually made sense, at least to me. Well, at least he asked the same questions I've been asking for quite a while now. If we weren't a capitalist economy, it wouldn't be so dangerous to also be a war-based economy.
I know that Senator McCain will have his moment, but I was proud tonight. I was proud of my country for producing a Barack Obama. That fact alone has given me hope up until now. Now I am encouraged to hope that a true change for the better will come because of this man's election. I would love to live as witness to the President Obama phase of this country.
He has deliberately fought to include every segment of the population in his picture of a new, redirected America, and his inclusive campaign asks for nothing more than genuine care and respect for the people of this country. All of the people.
The truth is, win or lose, his candidacy can only affect this country profoundly for the better, now and in the future. He has spoken up for issues of decency, respect, and practicality. If John McCain wants to win this election, he will have to take the same high road. Win or lose, Obama will garner major support for his policies among the people he would govern. Now that IS change.
Read the full text of Obama's speech here
Read my article on the medical/financial industry in this country.
