I've been flirting with Barack-as a candidate-for quite some time. His speech today, "A More Perfect Union," sealed it for me. He has my support and my vote. (Yeah, I know, voting for a Democratic candidate in Massachusetts is about as surprising as getting wet in the shower).
Watch the speech, or read the text here.
You will see a politician who hasn't sold his soul to politics. You will see a man stepping up and dealing with a controversy head-on, without hair-splitting and qualifiers and pandering as has been the political de rigeur for so long. You will see the potential leader of the free world take ownership and turn a campaign trail negative into a positive moment of honesty and forthrightness, in tackling a subject so taboo that politicians-and indeed, we as a nation as a whole-have avoided a macro discussion of for far too long.
Barack Obama's speech today laid bare the complexity of the racial situation in America. The causes that led to the current stalemate. Yes, he also addressed head-on the comments of Reverend Jeremiah Wright that sparked the controversy. He didn't defend the comments, but rather condemned the words while contextualizing the realities of where those words came from. It's neither a defense nor a justification. What it is is very simply an insight into sentiments and resentments that no white person can truly understand. Nobody ever called me a n****r, after all. My grandparents were immigrants, but they were not systemically denied entry to the American dream. Who are we as white people to question the black experience in America? Equally as important, as he noted in today's speech, is the need for black America to stop blaming all of the problems in their community on white America. We are ALL Americans. We are ALL America. Personal responsibility...which party is it, again, that constantly espouses personal responsibility and self-reliance? Funny that this liberal is the one speaking truth to power.
What today's speech did was open a real dialogue. Obama embraces hope, sure, but it is a realistic hope, a desire for a pragmatic unity. Rather than the continued politics of demagoguery, of meaningless platitudes offered to the public while the special interests and self-serving politicians feed unimpeded at the public trough, Obama offers another way. A genuine belief that we can do better. A belief that the relatively small yet frighteningly powerful coterie of special interests and lobbyists and corporate interests come second to the American people. A belief that the American people, even with all of our differences, ultimately want the same things...a better world for our families, our children. Better schools, access to quality healthcare, equal access to opportunity.
Divide & conquer has been the dominant political strategy in this country for generations. Mass media (largely corporate owned, don't forget) embraces and furthers this strategy now more than ever. Keep the proletariat distracted with the travails of idiotic celebrities and manufactured controversy. Proffer rigid political ideologies and blame the "other" for all of America's problems. Never, ever forget that green is the only color that ultimately matters in the corporate world.
You may not agree with all of his policies. I don't. He's much more liberal than I am. Yet I find myself inspired by him, inspired by the notion of a new way in America. Inspired by a man who is finally saying enough is enough, we can do better. The present administration sold out the people of this country. For too long in America, the few have benefited at great expense to the many. It is long past time to remedy this situation. He may not be the perfect candidate, but Barack Obama is the best candidate and the best hope for America to inch ever closer to the more perfect union our forefathers' intended.
God bless and Go Barack.
