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My letter was printed this week, and I've had some interesting responses so far.
Many of my friends are wondering why I steadfastly support Barack Obama for president. I’m not going to start spouting misleading statements and falsities about John McCain or Sarah Palin to justify my support. I support Obama not because he isn’t John McCain, but because he is Barack Obama.
I don’t watch cable news. I don’t believe anything I read without checking sources I trust first. I can smell political propaganda, and I have grieved over the number of my dear friends who have become lost in it. I get my information from proven, responsible media outlets. I have been inundated with e-mails and notices accusing Barack Obama of ridiculous sins, and interpreting the fact that he is a black man who doesn’t pretend to be otherwise as racial militancy.
I, for one, am sick of being lied to. I am of a generation whose political views have been formed by lies, and I am so weary of distrust. I am weary of feeling that my leaders are contributing to collapses across the world and across the country, and that no matter how loudly I scream, they’ll continue to cover their ears while they press red button after red button after red button.
Why do I support Barack Obama? Because for the first time in years, I’m excited.
People of my generation, from my neck of the woods—we’re not used to feeling that. We don’t get excited. We get angry. We get snarky. We don’t feel hopeful. We feel threatened. We feel overlooked. When Barack Obama speaks, I get excited. I feel hope. I am beginning to trust this gentleman who says he wants better things for me and for my country, and to believe he will work through any difficulty to get us those things. So I fight for him.
I don’t agree with everything he says. But I believe in him, and I believe that he believes in us. I believe he has the temperament, the judgment and the discernment to make the right choices under pressure and in peace. This country is broken. Many of our spirits are broken. Somebody has to fix it. I truly think he can.
5 comments:
I think Barack Obama is an exceptionally eloquent speaker and a great politician, but I would caution any one who says that they put their trust in any politician.
In the words of Derek Webb, "You can always trust the Devil or a politician, to be the Devil or a politician."
Fair enough. You're absolutely right, he is still a politician and will undoubtedly make some decisions for political reasons. But I don't believe he feels himself confined to the party line, and that is a great step forward. He seems to have good judgment and a knack for balancing politics with common sense, in my opinion.
Cool. I wish I had your excitement about either party. I think the media has ruined politics for me.
With respect, you did not say in your "Why Obama?" entry, why you want Obama. You didn't mention any policy of his you like. You didn't mention anything he's done in his past politics that you like. You didn't mention anything of his past career that makes you think he'll be able to take his undoubtedly pretty words and make them anything but that, pretty words.
I don't think Obama is a closet Muslim or a radical "Black Power!" militant, and I don't think he's more guilty than anyone else who's come out of the Chicago Machine. I think he's a Left-winger who has consistently voted Left-wing. If you're for that, go for it. If not, then, as you say, why Obama?
Politicians and the press go a good ways towards proving the falleness of man. Dissatisfaction with how things are is ENTIRELY understandable. However, I've seen nothing in Obama's policies to suggest that he has anything beyond eloquence that makes him any different.
Hi, Timothy. Thanks for reading. I didn't mention policies in this post because it was originally written as a rebuttal to the types of viral e-mail allegations you mention in your comment - claims that he's a Muslim, that he's a militant, that he's anti-American, that he's the anti-Christ, and now that he's a socialist. Since those aren't policy-oriented attacks, I didn't think they warranted a policy-oriented response. I wanted to support my view of his character in the face of these claims.
I certainly do support Obama's policy proposals. I think the U.S. has trailed behind many other countries in providing proper healthcare, and I believe his proposal to provide it, while it may be difficult to implement, is sound. I support his plan for phased withdrawal from Iraq. I am impressed by his focus on improving the quality of education and on decreasing poverty in the country, two issues that don't often come up at McCain-Palin rallies.
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