Also, read the 2004 Edition.
What follows are my opinions about the current state of America. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am not a Christian, or Jew, or Muslim. For the following, I am only a concerned citizen and was inspired to write this after seeing the results of the election. To wit, I choose to us the pen, electronic though it may be, to express and disseminate my thoughts on the subject.
I do not expect that everyone that reads the following will agree with everything contained therein. I do, however, ask that you will grant me the right to my opinions as I would surely grant you yours. It is only through honest discourse that we can hope to understand each other and so I have endeavored to provide just that.
November 5, 2008
The result itself was not surprising. All the polls leading up to it predicted how it would all play out and all the experts felt the same way. The outcome was all but certain going in, but that did not put my mind at ease, nor did it for many wanting the result so assumed. What was so surprising is that the event foretold actually came to be; that it came to that historic conclusion.
The wave of blue that swept in from the coast to put out the red flame of fear and intolerance that was kindled eight years ago and threatened to engulf the country was a long awaited sight. That flame was fed from our fears of past events, but the fuel could only feed the fire for so long before it was spent. Fear is an ephemeral emotion; it is not sustainable in the long run. It leaves people a hollow shell and they will look to fill it with something positive. And so the people of this country did, when they found hope.
It was not real for me until Barack Obama walked out on the stage and gave another rousing speech. I was left with a tear in my eye for I was watching history, but it was so much more than that alone. I was watching good history, the right history.
I have seen a lot of history before last night in my lifetime but nearly all the memories that fill my head are negative. My earliest memory of history is the explosion of a mission to space and the confusion and hurt that followed. I see a shell of a bombed building and school shootings. I see tidal waves and earthquakes. I see towers crumbling and, of course, I see war.
The only history that I celebrated was the pulling down of a wall and it was echoed last night with the destruction of another wall, a symbolic one but a wall nonetheless. It was a wall that should have been destroyed a long time ago but it took the right person at the right time to do it. Many thought it impossible and a few wanted that barrier to be permanent. But like any impedance of a people, it will eventually fail, either through the natural effects of time or through the demand for change or both.
Every parent at some point has told their child that they can be anything they want, even president of the United States. Many said this knowing it was a lie; a lie to inspire and build up rather than tear down but a lie nonetheless. It parallels the lie of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. These are lies that brings the extraordinary into the ordinary, that makes the impossible possible, that bring hope to the hopeless. Parents say this to their children not because they believe it to be true but in the hope that someday it could be. Now, that hope of possibility has turned into reality. No longer does a parent need to lie to their child, that ideal is true now. That day has come; that day is history.
That word cannot be used enough-- history. It was a historic election and a historic result. Not just because America stood up and picked an African-American for the first time in its history. This in and of itself is marvel and is unparalleled, and was long overdue. It was not only this but that America picked the more deserving candidate. We picked the more deserving candidate and, unlike in many elections, one that deserved to be picked. In everything he has done and in everything he has said, Barack Obama presented himself as a man who wants the country as a whole to succeed while being himself humble about his role. He heard the cries for change and promised to deliver through both his actions and words.
The demand for change in this country was strong even before Barack Obama made that his core message, but the fact that he was aware of the populace's demand shows an awareness that neither his opponent nor the current president have shown. That demand is strongest when there is dissatisfaction with the present, and the present is indeed bleak. The people then have no choice but to look to the future and there was little question as to which candidate represented the future.
John McCain did try to usurp the message of change during the campaign but it was a hard sell when everything he did bespoke a lie. He promised to bring change to place he has worked for nearly three decades while at the same time promoted his experience. This is as blatantly disingenuous as one can get. Experience is worthless if you plan on completely changing the system in which that experience was gained so we must discount your experience if you truly want to bring change. On the flip side, we cannot believe that McCain would bring change if we send him back to work in a place he has worked for so long, therefore we must discount your message of change if you wish to use your experience.
It is also strange to focus your claims to experience as an executive by talking of your experience as a legislator. There is a much better example that each have had over the past couple of years. The head of a campaign is much closer to president than that of a senator. You must lead a large group and get everyone on the same page. You must craft a message that resonates not just with you and your supporters but to the country as a whole. You must inspire and bring together those with differing opinions. All of these things you must do as the head of a campaign must also be done once a campaign is successful. The campaign is president practice.
In all honesty, there was no real comparison between the two campaigns. The McCain campaign bungled from one misstep to another, none bigger than the selection of his vice president running mate. McCain was impulsive, quick to decide without scrutiny, which is the exact opposite of what is require to be a good president. A thoughtless action during the campaign leads to negative publicity, a viral video, and perhaps a few percentage points drop in the polls. A thoughtless action as the chief executor of the country could be disastrous: it can cause an economic depression, antagonize an enemy, or precipitate yet another war. McCain has a documented history of being a hot-head whose temper is a hair's breadth away from boiling over and that is not the temperament we need.
Contrast that with the cool, calm demeanor of the man who was often under attack. Barack Obama handled everything that came his way without ever getting flustered. He was under the largest microscope this country has ever created for two years with nary a major mistake. And be sure any mistake would be magnified greatly by that microscope because of who he is. There was no second chance for him-- a mistake would not mean doubt from many voters but a permanent scar which he would be unable to hide. He was under intense and continuous pressure, much like a president, and came away unscathed. Barack Obama's long time in the crucible of the spotlight has galvanized him for his future task.
Having said all that the experience argument is a poor one. Some of our greatest presidents have had less experience than Barack Obama, and some of our worst have had resumes to compare with John McCain. This is why experience does not define a president. The president is a person of the moment and not of the past. They must be aware of the past and learn from it but decisions cannot be made there. The value of experience is highly overrated by the candidates themselves and the electorate as a whole. There are much more important characteristics that often get overlooked, but this time they came shining through. One candidate pushed a message of hope and promise the other on fear and hatred.
John McCain focused not on building himself up but tearing down Barack Obama which was a stunning example of the disconnect he had with the zeitgeist. He punched at the pedestal that Barack Obama stood upon, the pedestal he himself had helped create. Instead of concentrating on his own perch he remained fixated on destroying his enemies'. Each attack was more desperate, more pathetic, and less effective. This tactic did nothing but waste time, and when time ran out he was left on the ground looking up at Obama in the rarefied air above him. It was the last gasp of a man whose time had passed.
McCain's time should have been 2000 and had he been elected then maybe we would not be in such dire straights now. Back then his claims of being a Maverick were justified instead of just being empty hot air. But to try and correct that error now will just make matters worse, you cannot fix the past by making another mistake in the present. You can only hope to fix the future by choosing wisely now.
Fear was the status quo over the past eight years and Obama's opponents assumed that it would remain so. Fear got them into places of power and they went with their tried and true tactic ignoring the state of the country. They bet that the fear of change and the fear of the person that would bring it would be sufficient to win. They went all in and lost.
McCain and his campaign tossed accusations at the wall like spaghetti hoping something would stick. The claim that Obama was paling around with terrorists was frail in compared to Obama's obvious love of his country. Charges of socialism was wordplay and convinced only those already in agreement. They claimed him to be ignorant on topics on which he was obviously well versed, while at the same time desperately trying to keep Sarah Palin out of the spotlight or any light.
Perhaps their stupidest attack was that Barack Obama is all rhetoric, for even if that were true, it is more than they could offer. The pen is mightier than the sword. We are what we think, and the pen has the power to shape our thoughts. Words can change the country and the world, then can inspire and drive, they can give hope and change minds. Words written on a parchment in 1776 gave us freedom, a pamphlet that same year gave us Common Sense and the determination to fight. Words helped repair this country after its civil war and helped put a man on the moon. There is nothing they cannot do and to have a leader who is aware of their power and both wise and skilled in using them is the highest complement one can give.
It is the words of the great leaders of the past that we remember, that we learn in school, that we repeat to make a point. We repeat these speeches because they still carry weight, they helped shaped the opinions of the day and even years after spoken they still retain the significance they once did. For the great presidents, we remember not only what they did but what they said. The latter affects us to a greater degree today. Deeds often lose significance as time moves on, like a dream fades away once you are awake, but words and ideas last forever because they are constantly reborn when repeated and pondered.
Even if Barack Obama were only words, great words, that would be a breathe of fresh air and sufficient to do his job. But Obama is more than just words. He is intelligence, fortitude, confidence, and determination. He will surround himself with good people and actually listen to them. Better than that, he will understand the issues and make informed decisions rather than rely exclusively on the decisions of those around him.
The presidents job is to ensure that the will and judgment of the people, through their representative, is done. He has no power to make laws nor power to render decisions. His power is but to lead, to motivate, to inspire; he is almost a figurehead. The real power lies not in the president himself but in the ideal of the president-- what the office represents. The president is a leader and an ambassador to the country and the world.
There is no one in the world right now that equals Barack Obama on those fronts. He motivated throngs of people to follow him and help elect change into office. Hundreds of thousands gather to hear him speak wherever he goes, whether it is in the United States or elsewhere, because his words echo what they feel and what they hope. The whole world looks at us in a new light because of our ability to see through the usual politics and choose someone that they see as the better leader for the world. That is a leader; that is an ambassador.
Obama has fought against innumerable detractors for years and even after he has been elected there are those still looking to bring him down. He will never be complacent because there are many who will never let him: his detractors will never stop looking for weaknesses or mistakes and his supporters will constantly put pressure on him to live up to place in history.
The storybook ending to this election is just the beginning of this story. What we do now determines whether this story ends as a comedy, tragedy, or, dare we hope, a heroic epic. Obama cannot do it alone, it will take not only the support of those he already has but everyone in this country. We can only hope that those who voted against him will not be unwilling and unable to open their minds to change. That instead of sitting on the sidelines hoping the revelers stay off their lawn that they join in the revelry and help reshape the coming days. We also must be vigilant that the current celebration drunk with emotion does not slip into a hangover of apathy and disinterest like this country is so accustomed. The task is not done but simply started and we must not waste this start. We must follow this change through to the end.
The only road to the White House is no longer only presumption of birth or wealth or military achievement but there is also a heretofore mythological road; that legendary path that parents have spoke of with their children for hundreds of years but that they themselves doubted even existed. It was a road not only less traveled by but never trampled on by human feet. Until now, where together we found it as a nation and watched as one walked it for the first time. That road was discovered last night and it can never be hidden again.
It was indeed small steps with which Barack Obama walked out onto the stage at Grant Park in Chicago, but it was a giant leap forward for America and the world. The long night that has blanketed this country is not yet over, the sun not yet above the horizon, but the east is aglow with the light that precedes the dawn... and it is growing brighter.
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While we can celebrate this presidential victory as a great moment in history, where the color of a person's skin was indeed overlooked in favor of the content of that person's character, this celebration must be tempered. As a nation we rose up and tossed aside an old discrimination but found a new and more modern kind in its stead. This bigotry was on display across the country, every ballot measure concerning it ended up on the wrong side, even in the most progressive of states, California.
Anti-gay sentiment is the hate du jour and it is widely spread in the United States. The bigots speak of homosexuality as if it is a choice, which it is not, or that it is not natural, which it is. They speak of these things as if they would justify their loathing of homosexuals even if either or both were true.
America is about freedom, freedom to choose how you want to live. So even if homosexuality were a choice, they should be afforded this choice. And if homosexuality is a choice, they so must heterosexuality be. Therefore if you allow yourself that choice, you should allow others theirs.
The supporters of these ballot measures claim they are defending marriage. How does allowing a gay couple to marry detract from your marriage in any way? How does acknowledging more love cheapen marriage? The answer is, of course, that gay marriage does not affect them or marriage itself in any way. They fear and hate gays so they resist them being accepted anyway they can. It is not truly about marriage but about making sure that the gay lifestyle is not brought into the mainstream.
The bigots look for justification from god and for truth in a book that has none to give on the subject. That again goes to illustrate the power of words. Even a few words written by an unknown man in an ancient and mostly forgotten language thousands of years ago can still greatly influence the opinions of those alive today. Not just influence, but give them the unflappable knowledge that they are both right and just in their reduction of another human being to that of an animal, one that does not deserve all that they have.
They do all this because of a few passages in a ancient book. An ancient book that would have nearly everyone alive today stoned to death for various innocuous infractions, but they ignore this and focus only on their own goal. They ignore that morality from the bronze age is no longer appropriate in 21st century America. Most people have stopped looking to the old testament as a morality guide in everything but this one issue. Why grasp so hard at this one fuzzy prescription?
What it comes down to is that gay Americans are not fully a person according to the majority. It is acceptable that they can have all the rights as straight Americans do all long as it is outside their "pursuit of Happiness". So it has been decided that gays are not a full person, more than three-fifths, but not a full five-fifths either.
The population of those we Americans discriminate against grows smaller each time, but that does not make it any less wrong. First it was all about the genitals you have, then about the color of those genitals, and now it concerns where you put those genitals. Each issue as ridiculous and stupid as the last. We are one species and should act like it and accept each for who they are. We are taught to treasure the differences in each other because that is what makes each person unique. The lesson here is that differences are acceptable as long as they aren't too different, or scary, or against another's beliefs.
There is a easy solution to this problem, simply remove the government entirely from the marriage debate. Every joining of two people in the governments eyes would simply be a civil union, both gay and straight. Remove government from the discussion entirely so as to remove the defense of marriage as an excuse to reduce the worth of a person. This would leave only their bigotry as reason to not allow fully equal rights for homosexuals. The only problem with this solution is it would hide the anti-gay feelings and a hidden discrimination does not progress towards equality as fast as a conspicuous one. It is a solution that is penny wise and pound foolish, sacrificing the long term for the immediate.
It is hypocrisy of the highest order for anyone to laud yourself for having a hand in the watershed moment of electing Barack Obama while not chastising yourself for being homophobic. At the same time you are patting yourself on the back for being so enlightened for helping to elect an African-American as president, you should be kicking yourself in the nads for perpetuating bigotry in another form. You are not enlightened because while you may have managed to help lift one group up you did so while pissing on another.
Rest assured, this ban will not last nor will the feelings of fear and hate. It will be fixed in time-- those that want things to remain static can only accomplish that for so long, any impedance of a people will fail. Time changes all and progress will not stop forever no matter how hard some people try. All this codified discrimination did is weaken a country-- it did so by weakening a part of us and so all of us are less because of it.
The joy in this election is not as much as it could have been, not as much as it should have been.
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