Friday, August 29, 2008

Maybe

I'm not all that fond of Obama, I don't think he's going to be the change we're waiting for and I do not believe it is time for bipartisanship with people who are only a couple of steps short of fascism--if even that far from it, but he
does good speech.

Obama is no progressive, but he's as good as I think you are going to get elected in the States. He or Hillary are about as left as it goes. The corporations and their media wouldn't permit a real progressive to get there.

But when--and I do hope it's when--he's elected, it will say something about America. I hope that it will be the start of America's leaving a Dark Age, the start of its progression to a world I believe is possible, a world in which we genuinely are free.

I have that dream too, and more. I dream that we fulfil ourselves, that we put aside bitterness and anger, and commit our lives to each other, in community, to make a world that is wonderful to live in.

That dream is why I am a progressive, a liberal, a socialist, all those dirty words in the American political vocabulary, and I'm not ashamed to say that I am. I have a bleeding heart. And my heart is moved that America may now elect a black leader. It doesn't empty the jails of blacks; it doesn't bring equality; it doesn't lessen America's greed, its hatred of other cultures and places, its dark heart. But it says maybe...

Just maybe.

I hope that you will not let us down. We want to believe in America. We want to believe that we are better--and you, as the nation that leads our polity, are better; that the bin Ladens are wrong, that we are progressing, rising from the dark, slowly, but surely, to a world of light.

No excuses this time. No giving into fear, unwarranted and unreal. Even if you cannot love Obama--and I cannot and would not in your shoes--you cannot bear four more years of the cryptofascists who have lied to you and cheated you for so long. You cannot bear it; neither can we. Say no to McCain. Eight is enough. The trillions of wasted dollars and hundreds of thousands of wasted lives are enough. Let's fight terrorism by proving them wrong, not making it clear that they are right. Let's at least make a small deposit in the bank of justice. Let that small man McCain, that tiny, ugly weasel and the coldhearted weasels he serves, let them watch as we elect a black man to be the American president, and let's keep making that march ahead.

6 Comments:

At 10:43 pm, Anonymous Arleen said...

It *was* a good speech, wasn't it? Even if he doesn't make good on his promises, it will be refreshing to have an intelligent, articulate leader.

Even if you cannot love Obama--and I cannot and would not in your shoes-

Why not?

 
At 10:47 pm, Anonymous P. said...

But when--and I do hope it's when--he's elected, it will say something about America.

It will scream something about America. It's an exciting time and I really hope they come through not just for their sake but for the sake of rest of the planet.

Appearing weak is something America (but hardly America alone) are not good at and progressive change, certainly in the form of a black president, must seem like a scary place for so many of them. I think the race will be closer than most of the mainstream UK press (sadly, I rarely look anywhere else for news) would have us believe.

I hope the guy stays alive long enough to be a turning point in America's history.

 
At 9:18 am, Anonymous Dr Zen said...

Arleen, he strikes me as the American equivalent of Tony Blair. He's basically a Third Way centrist, which is not my kind of messiah.

 
At 3:13 am, Anonymous Father Luke said...

Here's a candidate for the People, By the People, and however the saying goes. . .
The People's Choice

- -
Okay,
Father Luke

 
At 8:09 am, Anonymous Mcleod said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 10:03 am, Anonymous iamonevotedotcom said...

Politicians respond to voters, but only if the voters ask them to.

The irony is, most voters don't even bother to vote.

 

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