Here's what I love about Barack Obama... he has the ability to take a step back in a way no other candidate can. Even Kucinich, my long lost love, couldn't pull this off.
The first speech I ever saw Barack give was his keynote speech at the 2004 DNC. I was standing on the floor. I was 14. I don't remember the entire speech, but I remember one part of it perfectly.
It was Barack's assertion that we weren't Democrats and Republicans, we were AMERICANS.
I know, I know, it's cheesy. But hey, guys, we need some cheese right now. We're wrapped up in a war that defines quagmire, our healthcare system is a mess, and Exxon Mobil just saw their highest profits ever. We've got some serious problems. But let's focus on foreign policy for a moment, then we'll address everything else.
The war in Iraq: a terrorist stricken country needed our help toppling an evil tyrant and is now in the slow and painful process of rebuilding, but continues to need our help.
The war in Iraq: we unilaterally invaded a country for oil and world domination, and now trapped in a quagmire of epic proportions, but have a president who couldn't care less.
Whichever flavor of Kool Aid you're drinking, it doesn't really matter, because once you see beyond the political picket-lines, you realize we're basically arguing about the same thing.
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, Neo-Conservatives, we all love America, we're all Americans.
We're all looking for the best way to keep our nation safe on a civil, physical, and mental level. To "Conservatives", the best route is the "strong" one, the "valiant" one, which obviously hasn't worked out quite as well as they hoped.
The Democrats, on the other hand, aren't quite sure what the correct strategy is, but because they (we) suck at P.R., they've gotten backed into a corner and now are forced to choose between "hate America" and "kill innocent people".
Enter Barack.
Look, this guy isn't the holy grail or the messiah, but he's great because he couldn't care less about the non-sensical and temperamental political position this country has found itself in. He's made it abundantly clear he's ready to take action, but NOT a moment before.
As a liberal New York democrat, I don't particularly like the concept of killing people, but if there were a nuclear missile aimed at New York with a guy behind the trigger who hates me, I'm not particularly comfortable either.
The problem is, that's a precarious place to be, lean even a little too bit left or right, and I'm suddenly on a side.
So back to Barack. He's ready to take action, but for every moment up until that moment, he's ready to dole out Aid and diplomacy. Now that sounds more like it, right, Democrats? I read a speech of his yesterday that made this all abundantly clear. I'd like to share it with anyone reading this who better wants to understand why Barack is a solid guy under all that idealism.
it's right here.
Many of our problems stem from issues that are resolvable on a level that leaves neither side feeling like the "loser", which breeds more anger, and distances us even more.
Look, we all fly the same flag, we all live under the same constitution, we all watch the same superbowl ads, let's stop this mindless fussing and get to the worldchanging.
Barack, you're up.
