What a wonderful word intrepid is. If it has not already been applied to the Obama campaign, it should be. It means, according to Wordnet, "audacious: invulnerable to fear or intimidation; 'audacious explorers'."
How apposite! Here we have the almost comical display of Reverend Wright, almost a fantasy moment of self-vindication turned nostalgic, opposed to the utterly intrepid performance of the Obama campaign.
While the media goes bananas and the talking heads threaten to implode with pent-up convictions, Barack calmly addresses rallies in North Carolina and we -- those of us who share the intrepid label -- calmly evaluate the reality behind the show.Here are a few insights that come from Lake Intrepid.
1. Cable TV is a parlous show. Parlous is a somewhat modified synonym for dangerous. That is why it bothers us. There is danger in allowing a commercial venture that looks somewhat like what we associate with reporting and journalism to have a grip on our consciousness. We confuse its gyrations with reality. We become viscerally related to this or that nuance from this or that figure on the screen. It is no wonder that we intrepid find we no longer need to watch, that we increasingly work in silence and allow our minds to begin to sort the significant from the ephemeral. At which point we conclude that we have ceded too much power to a largely incestuous body of entertainers, comparatively low paid when you consider what big stars get when they do movies, what marquee athletes get. And we conclude something far more important -- the vast preponderance of human beings have better things to do than saturate themselves with the day's MSM mantra. Cable TV is parlous but not terminally harmful.
2. Intrepid thinks things through. Yes, all. Obama thought through whether to run. The damnably admirable thing about this campaign is how consistent it has been. It has made audacity look like business as usual. Which explains the frantic gyrations of the Clinton campaign, confronted at every turn by little reminders of how all that forethought is playing out. Why do you suppose that Barack Obama now has more endorsements from Senators than Hillary Clinton has? It is because they see through the screen of daily Cable mantras -- not even solid enough to wrap fish in -- and cut to the little things that happen because of what the campaign set in motion a year and more ago. They see how the little things add up to massive strength economically, massive solidity once this contest is concluded, massive results for the world once election is achieved.
3. Intrepid is serious. When Barack paces back and forth, allowing his inner thinking to become transparent to those who are attending, he is talking about life and death issues because, contrary to his opponent, he is offering no escape. When we listen to the politicians of gridlock we are essentially being told that our lives are not going to be bothered by real changes. Who really wants change? Well, the problem is that we are reaching one of those turning points in human evolution. Either we change or what we have gained by courage and steadfast defense of ideas of freedom and justice begins to seep away and the world moves further into decline. Intrepid is acting on a trust in the willingness of a time and its generations to grasp realities that seemed beyond us.
That we could move beyond the oil economy.
That we could move to new concepts of human settlements.
That we could begin to actually achieve some of the elementary goals for the reduction of poverty, disease and assaults on elementary rights and freedoms.
Intrepid is the Obama campaign being for real, not a chimera or a phony.
When we consider what is at stake we begin to comprehend on a deeper level just how real and truthful Obama is being when he evokes the audacity of hope.
And we begin to see that, even if we quail at the thought of a Wright who is flying off at the handle, or a Chris Matthews who is indulging some ambient enthusiasm-of-the day, we are blessed (baracked) with something special, an intrepid thing, an operation that is more real, and closer to realization, than we ever dreamed possible.
And, for this, we who are older, who know the Jonah mentality that Wright participates in, yelling out things that both true and outmoded at the same time, should be thankful. We can say yes to both Wright and Obama. And still be intrepid, eyes on the prize.
http://stephencrosehome.blogspot.com
Born in NYC, attended Oberlin & Trinity Schools, then Exeter and Williams (Phi Beta Kappa 1958). Worked with the Reverend James Robinson, finished Union Theological Seminary in NYC (1961). Joined Student Interracial Ministry in Nashville. Founded Renewal Magazine in Chicago, served The Christian Century and Christianity Crisis magazines. Covered civil rights in Oxford, Birmingham and Selma. Interviewed Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X. My book The Grass Roots Church had impact on the ecumenical movement. Have authored some 15 books, been a house-husband and father of three wonderful (grown) children. I have written published music choral and popular. Most recently I served in UN agencies including UNICEF in NYC and edited CHOICES which was the flagship magazine of UNDP.
I haven't seen Rev. Wright fly off the handle. He has been remarkably consistent. It was Obama who flew into a rage that Wright wouldn't shut up about the things he's been talking about for decades, and uttered blatant lies about today's Wright being someone different than the one he knew.
Under pressure, we are beginning to see the real Obama beneath the image of the calm, carefully controlled person above the fray that has been carefully promoted. He's just another opportunistic, establishment politician who happens not to be white.
by
Bill Samuel (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 270 comments)
on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 9:23:47 PM
2 comments
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