Once again, I’ve been wandering the halls of my archives. I went back to 2005 this time…back to when I still had the time and brainpower to write things that were really worthwhile. Back before I became thoroughly sick of the political state of our nation—the posturing, the deceit, the muck-flinging. The utter vapor-lock prevalent in the Democratic Party.
I dug up an entry I had written in September of that year, “A Political Admonishment.” This post went into some detail about my personal p olitical history and my increasing disillusionment with the Donkeys. My closing line was,
Let this be a warning and a wake-up call to the Democratic Party. You cannot afford to assume. You cannot afford to let us "idealists" trickle away. Speak to our ideals, ensure our loyalty. Inspire us to vote for you, because it’s increasingly likely that a vote against the current regime will not necessarily fall in the Democrats’ column. You need to stop the bleeding.
Three years later, it looks like the Democratic party has taken my admonishment to heart. Surely someone in the higher echelons read my post and set about acting on it… ;)
All kidding aside, the Obama candidacy appears to fill the order for an inspirational person, policy or direction for the Dems. Here is a candidate that urges us to stretch beyond the old high standards we thought forever lost, upward toward ideals we didn’t dare to envision. Not just a candidate who stands for change from the policies through which we have slogged desultorily for the past eight years. Here is a candidate for historic change. For raising the nation to a level of open-mindedness and inclusiveness we had thought were decades away, if indeed they were ever in the cards at all. The darkness of the divisiveness, hatred, selfishness and fear-mongering of the Bush Administration has brought us to the threshold of a promise brighter than we could have imagined.
Is it too bright? Will we reach for it, or shield our eyes and turn away?
Or will someone shoot out the light…
I hope we reach for it ... and I hope we achieve, at the least, SOME of all that is possible for this country. We can stand united again. We can accomplish great things ... as long as we keep the dark side at bay.
ReplyDeleteShoot out the light? Let's hope not.
My kids are excited about and inspired by Obama. Of course, insofar as I'm concerned, he's the only choice but I say that living in the midst of staunch conservatives who are entirely threatened by him. I don't know how we'd stand it...how I'd stand it...if someone shoots out the light. McCain worries me, but I'm hoping he's doomed himself with his choice of Palin as a running mate. She's even scarier than he is.
ReplyDeleteJudi