Thursday, March 20, 2008

We Interrupt This Narcissistic Blather...

 

Absorbed as I am in my own mercilessly hectic life, I have sort of taken a pass on Election 2008. Too, the experience of Election 2004 left me cynical and jaded. I’ve suffered from a profound disappointment with the American people, and a conviction that not only is our country not headed toward anything resembling progress or greatness, it is in full retreat away from those things.

Still, it has been physically impossible for me to stay entirely ignorant of the over-reported details of the campaign. One would have to be confined incommunicado in a lead-lined room to avoid being poisoned by the latest media-hyped campaign news. I heard about the Geraldine Ferraro flap (and cringed during Keith Olbermann’s five-minute overwrought lambasting of the Clinton campaign over the Ferraro remarks on "Countdown.") And I heard about the latest conflagration over remarks made by the pastor of Barack Obama’s church. (I can hear the wheels grinding in Karl Rove’s evil, twisted mind…"Okay, maybe we can’t believably make Obama a Muslim…but, oh look! We can make him a racist!!!)

So I have been hanging on the sidelines, waiting for the dust to settle in the Democratic campaign. Staying out of the line of fire and lining up to vote for whoever came out on top. I had no preference, as long as it was a Democrat. They seemed equally capable to me.

And hoping against hope that the candidates didn’t do so much damage to each other in their protracted battle for the nomination that they torpedoed the party’s chances to win in November

News of Obama’s inspired "More Perfect Union" speech—they’ve already given it a name to go down in the annals of American History—just made me more tired. How different could it be from the "you attack, I defend (or back-pedal)" see-saw game that went on in 2004? The issues might be slightly different, the principals are mostly different. But 2008 has promised to continue the onslaught of inflammatory sound-bytes, trumped-up charges of dishonesty, immorality, inexperience, weakness and "flip-flopping;" pelting the American people so fast and so furiously that even those who want to will not be able to withstand the barrage to get to the real issues. And I just DON’T want to play this time around.

But then…I was visiting a friend’s blog, and there was a link to a transcript of the speech.

And I clicked. And I read.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords

Now YOU click. And YOU read.

And then come back here and tell me whether these words are not the exact polar opposite of everything this country has been about these last eight years.

And whether this is not exactly the direction in which we need to turn, exactly at this time in our history.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you! I needed this- You have found truth in a heap of other stuff! Thanks again- Dannelle

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  2. I think I put my 'dumb' hat on this morning, because I'm not sure I follow ... I watched his speech and at first I was caught up and a bit swept away and then suddenly I fell flat on my seat with such a let down.  I was expecting more ...

    In fairness, I'll go read the speech because there in the written word I may find what I am looking for, although I tend to think I'll just keep my disappointment in all candidates to myself.  :::sigh:::

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  3. Funny how when it's an African American preacher, we're suddenly worried about "racism." When white preachers like Falwell and Bob JOnes spread their poison for years with no problems from the pundits. I'm tired, sick and tired.

    Jackie

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  4. He offers hope...something we've been short of for too long in this country.

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  5. I am an over 60 white female that has been backing Obama since early in this campaign.  
    Glad you made the speech available to yet more people.  
    I have given more money to the Obama campaign than all previous ones put together (still not a lot because my resources a limited) but it shows my enthusiasm.
    Of course he is not perfect, just like any other human, but way better than either Clinton or McCain.  
    I never thought Hillary was a viable candidate to begin with and she has run such a lousy campaign on every level that she is loosing more respect every day.  I have recently seen comments from people that will now try to get her out of the Senate because of the "kitchen sink" stuff and the lies.

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