Barring some catastrophic event in the next eighteen hours or so, the man to the left is going to be sworn in as the President of the United States of America before lunch time tomorrow. I know there are people out there secretly hoping for that catastrophic event to happen, but, as for me, I am feeling more patriotic than I have since Adam Thomas's 'Bible' class.
Conservatives and liberals alike agree that America is in trouble. The problem is that each side sees the other as the cause of the problem. Now, I know most of you know where I stand politically, which is left of left, but I don't want to tout my agenda now. I also don't want to get emotional and say how proud I am to have a black president. It's almost a bit racist, isn't it? First of all, he's half black and half white. But, somehow, his blackness wins out. I think that says something about how we, as a culture, perceive race. I'm sure its quite harmless, merely a backlash from hundreds of years of racism and oppression in North America, but Barack Obama's blackness is not going to save America.
For most of us, the big political issues on our minds are the economy and the wars. Division occurs over how to handle these huge issues facing us, as a nation. The last thing I want to do is plead for you guys to fall in behind the President and support him. Firstly, that would be enormously hypocritical of me. Secondly, think for yourself. And speak up. Robert and I obviously disagree on most political issues, but I love being able to read his thoughts on the issues. If I were to disagree with a friend over one matter, it doesn't mean I'm no longer his friend. The same is true when it comes to patriotism. I strongly disagree with the wars we're involved in, our foreign policy in general, and the Supreme Court's stance on abortion, but voicing these concerns makes me no less a patriot.
I can't explain why I wrote this post. I know its disconnected and poorly written. I guess I had a quick burst of patriotism. It's been happening more and more in the past few months and I hope I continue to feel that way. I want to leave you with the mind-bogglingly blasphemous image above as food for thought. But I also want to say that now, as I am homesick and living in a foreign country and preparing to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as President tomorrow, I am excited about the future and I am proud of my country.
This doesn't mean much, but my grandma wrote me a letter that I just got, and she said that my grandpa was reading audacity of hope. his fear is that "Obama has too much common sense to deal with the washington people." so yeah, I felt like that applied to this post.
ReplyDeleteI hope its true.
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ReplyDeleteObama has a great deal of common sense, but so did the populists and the progressives-this is why Obama will have trouble dealing with the "Washington people". History. God bless and good luck, Barack.
ReplyDeleteProgressives? Populists? Look up those terms and their political meanings. According to common definitions, Obama is both.
ReplyDeleteI'm not talking about the definitions, I'm talking about the parties in the early 1900's, both of which failed.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that Obama will fail, and I am not saying that I hope that he will. My statement was not meant to be anti-obama, I was simply clarifying why he will have trouble with Washington people. I consider myself a populist in that I support the working class individual, but I do believe that sometimes people do not know what they need.
ReplyDelete"I am not saying that Obama will fail and I am not saying that I hope that he will." Robert Wise
ReplyDeleteJan. 21, 2009 7:12 PM
"Fail. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/21/obama-closing-gitmo-year/100days/" Robert Wise Jan. 22, 2009 7:24 AM
ROBERT WISE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED. HE IS A FLIP-FLOPPER
hahaha I knew someone would catch that...F*** me
ReplyDeleteSorry Wise, I was thinking contemporary politics, not historical. You're right. My apologies.
ReplyDeleteI feel you enter dangerous territory, however, when you claim to know what people need better than themselves. That kind of thinking allowed centuries of imperialism and oppression, mainly by the British, and the damage done by that kind of thinking is still evident in places like India and Africa.
It's late and I really don't feel like writing a long explanation for what I said, but let me agree with you for now that yes, it can be dangerous territory. But let me assure you, there is a balance that was by no means followed in the cases of India and Africa and in all Imperialism.
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