Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I Can't Fight This Feelin' Any More

I confess, I've resisted throwing my support wholeheartedly behind Barack Obama. I rationalized it in a number of ways: I was worried he didn't have enough experience, he seemed a little light on the issues, etc. Really, though, I think the problem was, I just didn't want to get my hopes up and have my heart broken again.

But damn it, when you see something like this:



It's hard not to be moved.

Put the celebrity cameos aside and listen to the words:

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.


What this country needs right now, more than anything else, is hope. It needs inspiration. It needs a leader who can bring us all forward into the future rather than excuse his failures by demonizing half of this country and turning them into some mythical bogeyman that's to blame for the past.

Look, I want payback for the last few years of being called "traitor" and "terrorist sympathizer" as much as the next guy. But we don't have time for that now.

The real "central front" in the War on Terror is not Iraq or even Afghanistan. It's the human mind. For the terrorists, blowing up train stations or destroying tall buildings is a means to an end. Destruction and murder are tools, they are not the goal. Their goal is to change the way we think. They want us to be afraid of freedom. They want us afraid, not just of them, but of each other. They want us to think, "we have to sacrifice American ideals to save our lives." And the last few years have been one long capitulation in that war. Idealism is not our enemy; it's our secret weapon.

Okay, Senator Obama. You got me...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you Dusty. God help me, I'm with you.

Chris said...

Now, I'm a flaming liberal, but one thing most candidates on either side seem to lose track of is the fact that they don't get to be President of the People Who Voted For Them, they have to be President of the whole shebang. It's disconcerting, I think, for people to see a candidate who's running for everyone's vote, not just those of his party. What's more, Obama isn't doing it by simply tacking toward the center, or stealing planks from the opposition's platform; he's doing it by running a positive campaign, one of ideas and ideals both. I only hope that people note this quiet revolution for what it is: a shift toward substance, and toward hope.

He'll sure as hell have my vote. Or, um, my caucusing.

Karen Olson said...

I saw Obama speak in Hartford to at the civic center last night...he's amazing. He's inspiring. I have never seen a candidate who brings such hope. He quipped about how "there are those who" call him "a hope-monger." Who say he's not tough enough to run against the Republicans. "I'm skinny, but I'm tough. I'm from Chicago," he said. His words brought the almost 20,000 people there to their feet. He's got my vote.

David Terrenoire said...

I jumped on board reluctantly, too, for many of the same reasons.

I don't want to get my hopes up. I don't want my heart broken again.

I've been fighting this fight since I went Clean for Gene. I'm tired.

But not so tired that I won't once again walk Durham's precincts, getting out the Democratic vote for Obama.

Sean Chercover said...

I've been bugging family, friends and acquaintances to get on the Obama train since last summer. Got the bumper sticker and the t-shirt and the hat, put the sign on the balcony of my Chicago apartment, stuck Obama stickers all over Illinois and Wisconsin and Indiana and Michigan.

I don't agree with all of his positions and I don't think he's flawless, but I firmly believe that he's the best hope we've got for substantive change. And we need that, desperately.

And the guy doesn't take money from K Street. 'Nuff said.

Phoebe Fay said...

Excellent post, and I agree completely. In fact, I quoted you in my post today.

I'll be caucusing tonight - first time ever! After two decades as an independent, I registered as a Democrat this year specifically because I was inspired by Obama.

Anonymous said...

Yes. . . we can.

But will we?

Richard Cooper said...

I'm an independent, and Obama is the one.