Obama
So this will be a political post. Generally my posts consist of rants. So few politicians have shown a glimpse of being more than just adequate. And yet last night I saw a video of someone who inspired me.
I liked Bill Clinton. he had his faults, but he did things that needed to be done and he was a great speaker. Still, in hindsight, I can understand why others had major issues with him. He was flawed and polarizing with how he pushed things through and part of that may have been from just being new. He definitely improved over the years, but Republicans made it their personal mission to find a way to tear him down.
Obama showed something that I haven't seen since speeches of the 60's. He delivered a speech that was incredibly inspirational and I actually had a few tears at the end. He did something that few politicians are willing to do, and that was to be honest and stand by a conviction that does him no good whatsoever. I'm going to take a clip from a link that illustrated it well:
By treading where few politicians dare to go -- into the often-ugly depths of America's racial history -- Barack Obama has surely started something: a long overdue national conversation.
His critics should be honorable enough to concede the point. Where the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate could have opted for the easy road, focusing his speech on sternly rebuking his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he set a more daring course of exposing the common racial baggage black and white Americans have carried for centuries.
"I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother ... a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are part of me. And they are a part of America."
Full Article
He touched on things that divide us and touched on them from different perspectives to put people in each other's shoes.. He didn't present these views with anger, but with hope and optimism and a desire to do something about it.
In case you haven't seen the speech or video, click here.
Want to know what frustrates me? I wonder if a good man can actually be elected in this day and age. Hillary is intent on his destruction and she has NO qualms about fighting dirty except that it might harm her campaign if she's too dirty. In other words she's the standard politician. She will say whatever she needs to, to get what she wants. Also, a lot of times people are afraid of truth. It scares them. People like to bitch, but they seldom like to change and resist it even stronger when others hold them accountable for their own actions.
A couple of polls have been taken and they show Clinton is currently in the lead. They show that McCain, the man who wishes to continue our war in Iraq for 100 years, to be in the lead. That's just wrong to me.
So readers of my blog, what are your thoughts on Obama? what are your thoughts on clinton? What are your thoughts on McCain? I ask because I wonder if I'm the only person moved by this man, or if there are others. If there are others and you think this man has the potential to be a truly special leader... then my question is, how can we make that happen and what are you willing to do? This man will lose if good people sit down and do nothing. He'll win if the cry for him to be in office is so loud that it can't be ignored.
I know how I feel, and so I'm posting this that is my current action with more to come if he makes it as a presidential nominee.
He inspires. Have you ever worked in a business with an inspired leader? Doesn't it make you want to work harder, doesn't that excitement rub off on even the most cynical just a little? Couldn't our government improve a little if people looked out and realized that a very real change was possible?
For the first time in my life, I feel inspired by a political leader that is still alive. I truly hope this man makes it into the Presidential office. I have a feeling he'll either do great things, or be egged by every evil politician. I think both of those things will mean he's doing something right.
I dream of a future with a leader that I could respect and follow.