Do any of you still believe in change? The editor's letter, entitled "Change We Can Believe In", in the current issue of "The Nation" (8/18/25/08, pgs 3-4) is a great summary of Obama's initial campaign positions! The webpage URL is as follows:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080818/open_letter
It was a refreshing reitteration of what spured me on to support Obama and his campaign, in words and in donations, after eight years of living under Bush's "dark reign". Do any of you still believe in the original premise and promise of Obama's campaign for the presidency? If so, it's time to let your voice be heard once again to ensure that his campaign stays "on track"!
In light of several major endorsements of Barack Obama during the last several days (Sam Nunn, David Boren & Robert Reich, among others), it’s time for me to officially endorse Senator Obama, as well. I can no longer justify, at this critical juncture in the Democrats’ efforts to select the presidential nominee for their party, withholding my much sought-after endorsement of Obama. I realize that my endorsement of Senator Obama will be a major boost to his candidacy, and probably sway enough additional Pennsylvania voters to vote for him in the Pennsylvania primary next Tuesday so as to provide a “win” for him, but it is time for all of us who have been “fence-sitting” regarding this decision to make our support known. We can no longer afford to let the petty bickering of other candidates and the media detract us from “finalizing”, once and for ever, that Barack Obama is the best candidate for the Democrats, and more importantly, for this nation. So, I encourage all of you to make your “endorsements”, votes and contributions for Barack Obama known to all - now! While your endorsement may not be as well-publicized as the other major endorsements that I have listed above, every “vote” (endorsement) counts in this campaign, and yours is no less important than the ones listed above, mine included! Let your “endorsements” be heard loud and clear, either in monetary contributions, working the phones, blogging your thoughts on important issues, or providing any other supportive activity that you can muster in support of Senator Obama. Now is the time for all of us to endorse Barack Obama!
What’s the (new) deal here? While perusing a recent issue of “The Nation” (April 7, 2008, pgs. 11-17), I came across an article by Richard Parker on FDR with quotes from the former president (4 terms!) with words that could just as likely have been heard from our own chosen candidate in today’s world, as from FDR 75 years ago. The specific quotes of FDR found on page 17 of the article, struck such a chord with me, that I couldn’t resist sharing it with my fellow Obamaians. Suffice it to say that my meager efforts to paraphrase that quote will not be sufficient for those of you who take this cause seriously, so I am going to use the words of the author of the article in order to give you a sense of how loudly these words rang out for me in terms of their eloquence, clarity and pertinence! I hope that the words of the author of the article about FDR, Richard Parker, give you that same “ah ha” moment that it gave to me. Mr. Parker states:
“In the roughly ninety seconds it took FDR to deliver those words on the bleak and unpromising day in Washington at the tail end of winter seventy-five years ago, he described a politics, an economics and a morality at once – and thereby told Americans how they could and should make change, that he would lead them in doing so and who would oppose them.”
Mr. Parker continues with:
“He didn’t cut to the middle or appeal to an interest group; he didn’t divide the country into friends and enemies (though he named those he intended to struggle against); and he held out the promise that all could work together, though he knew in truth that they never would.”
And then, with what I believe the Obama campaign could rally around as its own goal, Richard Parker concludes:
“And then together, the Americans who knew his story – and knew it was their own – set about the work ahead of them.”
Wow! History does repeat itself – because it appears that human nature does not change significantly from one generation to another. We only seem intent upon re-living many of the same “missteps” with each generation, and really not learning that much from previous generations’ successes and errors. I guess that greed, (both in corporate and individual modes), is a universal, whether we learn about it in our history books or whether we evidence it directly in our daily lives. At each great juncture in history, then, it appears that we must fight the necessary battles all over again in order to promote what is just, equitable and “correct” in our society. It appears to me that the man to lead this new “battle” is amongst us and we must help generate a ground-swell of voters who see where we are at this point in history, and realize the dire need for a leader that is not fearful of leading this nation in the “correct” direction once again! The only thing that we have to fear is that someone other than Barrack Obama becomes our president in 2009! That would truly be the worst “fear” for me!
It's about time! It's taken 65 years for me to finally start putting my written words where my blog (mouth) is. That's not because of any disinterest in either the political process or in my voting rights as a citizen of this country, but more of a statement reflecting my previous thinking that I neither had any real say in how our national government was run, nor in selecting those who were elected to represent me, along with thousands of others.
In recent days we have seen a number of elected officials (Democrats, unfortunately!) who have "confessed" to their sins. I therefore, am attempting to purge my guilt for not making my voice heard in past years and elections (other than to vote) by, hereby, confessing that I will no longer "sin" in that way ever again! While my "sin" is probably not considered "illegal" or "serious", I am admitting that I should have done much more in the past (remember 1968!?) to become involved and help make a difference in our political process. None of us can afford to allow the kinds of people in both the current administration and, unfortunately, some in our current Congress, to ever again mislead, corrupt, and take away our civil liberties to any degree near what has happened in the last 7 years. That would be a real sin!
There, that makes me feel a lot better - even if it is only me who reads this blog! I feel cleansed of my past political silence and pledge never again to not speak up for the candidate, and issues, that I believe to be in the best interests of this nation. I, therefore, proudly add my name to those who support Barrack Obama! Yes we can!
