At the beginning of this presidential campaign when there were so many candidates to choose from, I had no dog as they say in this race. In fact, I couldn’t care less and I do think that stems from the anger I have felt during the eight years we as Americans have been imprisoned at the hands of Pres. George W. Bush. It was as if I had given up all hope and I do suspect that others across this country felt the same.
As I gazed upon the myriad of photos taken of the conclusion of last night’s convention coverage where Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, it felt as if those shackles had been thrown off that had imprisoned this country for eight long years. I am still awe struck by what I viewed on television of this momentous occasion. In all of my fifty years and as long as I have been politically aware, I have never seen a convention quite like this one.
I do not think we can credit Senator Barack Obama solely for restoring any sense of hope some are feeling now; I feel that it is something that has been locked up in all of us for a long time. I do think the fear we have been force-fed during these past eight years is the reason for hope’s imprisonment. When hope is locked up, fear and apathy replace it.
Beat a person down for long enough with the use of fear and the only thing they will do is cower in the corner too afraid to speak up. Beat a person down long enough by taking their jobs away from them and the light of their hope will be extinguished. Beat a person down long enough where the cost of food, health care and other necessities are financially out of reach, they will whither away never to be heard from again. This is the world that President George W. Bush has given us along with the complicit nature of John McCain.
Barack Obama touched upon this last night as he said, “When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.” I for one am tired not because of my age which is fifty, but I am tired of settling.
When some will say that we have been safe and secure and not suffered any further attacks under Bush’s regime since 9/11 while that is true we have suffered in other areas that are equally terrorizing. When a parent is too afraid to take their child to the doctor especially if that child is sick because of no health insurance that is terrorism. When you have a senior citizen having to choose between taking their medications or eating that is terrorism. When you have a family suffering in the grips of hunger due to increased food prices that is terrorism. When you have people freezing in the winter due to the high cost of home heating oil that is terrorism. When you have workers who cannot afford to fill their gas tanks due to the high cost of gasoline and are unable to get to work that is terrorism. When you have folks losing their homes due to foreclosure that too is terrorism. These are exactly the people who have been ignored by George W. Bush and John McCain.
I have often said that any push back to the Bush policies must come from we the people and I do feel that is what Barack Obama tapped into. How else does one explain how he was able to fill that stadium where it was standing room only. You can have the most brilliant campaign managers and associates working for you, but if you do not have a message, they will not come.
To every American that has been harmed by this administration and John McCain’s failure in holding Bush accountable, now is your time to come to rise up and say with words as well as actions by voting for Senator Obama and Senator Biden, “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!” If you don’t who will?
If I were the McCain people looking at the conclusion of the Democratic convention, I would be filled with fear in how I was going to top that for their candidate. While I may be surprised, honestly, I do not think they can answer that back. What will be John McCain’s message when during the past eight years we have seen an abuse of power by the president he has backed time after time again and never once did we hear McCain say, “Enough, Mr. President!”
I am puzzled when the AP just reported that McCain's pick for his VP candidate is, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and in my opinion the only reason he did that was to sway ardent Clinton supporters especially women away from Barack Obama. Especially the ones who are angry that Obama did not choose Clinton as his running mate. If his only reason for choosing Palin was because she is a woman, he does not deserve to be the president. When Republicans cite how the Democrats are weak when it comes to foreign policy, Palin has only been the governor of her state for less than two years.
According to the AP it "shocked numerous Republican officials" Not really familiar with her, I question McCain's decision since this candidate can possibly be a heart beat away from the presidency. To those Republican officials, I too am shocked. This is where I trust Obama's decision when he chose Joe Biden as his running mate. I know him, respect him, but I do not know her. Can she pick up the phone and speak with former presidents of another country as Joe Biden did with Musharraf during the recent turmoil that took place in Pakistan?
There may be a method to his madness meaning McCain in choosing Palin and we will all have to wait to see how it unfolds. Hey, if he really wanted to be seen as a maverick of his party, he should have asked Senator Clinton. Not that she would have taken it, but it still would have raised some eye brows.
Getting back to the conclusion of the Democratic convention, in Barack Obama’s speech he stated, “Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land: enough!” Yes, we Americans including those he mentioned have had enough or as Lou Dobbs has stated in the past, “A belly full” Perhaps the true and real power this time will come from all of us. At least that is my hope anyway. Now that is the kind of power that absolutely scares the Republican leaders such as McCain.
In inviting former Vice President Al Gore to speak before the convention, it only reminded me of what we could have had these past eight long and arduous years. In as much as I have been always holding out hope that he would run again; I do think that he is still serving we the people.
As he spoke, he did so intelligently alerting us to the continued climate crisis and how it has been put on the back burner during these past eight years. He reminded all of us just how interwoven it was to our own national security.
Speaking of intelligence, it is something to celebrate and should never be thought of as a deficit. One only has to look at the devastation to this country and its security due to a lack of intelligence. While many may laugh at the myriad of Bushisms, they do tell a story of how this man George W. Bush never deserved to serve as Commander in Chief.
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