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January 23, 2009
Barak
Obama is now president three days, and I look into my soul for reflection.
There I find what I never expected to find. My nation. It has returned,
with all the high ideals that once comprised it, and that I believe.
No
more games and deceptions. No more baseless anger and inequality. No more
oligarchy of big businesses imposing their will behind closed doors. No
more stoking of divisions, insulting this region of the country in favor
of another. We now have a man in office. A true American who cares about
all Americans. A man of clear vision and clear heart. The last decade
of corruption and idealistic heresy stole America from our grasp - and
suddenly, it is here again, stronger and truer than ever. What faith was
repressed and in some cases shattered by those who would be contrary to
everything good, who would pollute air and water, wage war for unjust
causes, and define patriotism as bullish clichés - now, suddenly,
lives again. We are back from exile. Back to show the world what reason
and humanity can accomplish, and it feels good.
Is
Barack an American messiah? A political prophet instigating a new era
of sanity and compassion? No. He is just an intelligent, seriously applied,
well-meaning patriot who loves the ideals that the real America stands
for. Learn well, my fellow citizens. That's all it takes for the excitement
of freedom to take flight once again.
I
remember the faces, two million of them, crowded in the streets of Washington
DC. The smiles. The unity. The dream embodied. The joy. The tremendous
burden suddenly lifted. And yes, the sudden lack of shame, dissipated
by new hope. The satisfaction that the world was looking at us no longer
with contempt, but with hope for a better world.
George
W. Bush was from the old school of presidential politics, where politicians
were part of a fraternity that did not represent the people, and had no
wish to represent them. How could he? He never even knew them. Us. He
treated us as if we would believe anything. And too many of us did.
As
I awake this morning, things appear to be changed. I hope they really
are. The old guard is still haunting the rafters, waiting and watching,
ready to pounce. But they are frustrated by a leader they cannot understand
in their greed for power. They don't know what to do as President Obama
returns that power to the people, and includes everyone in his concern,
even them. They are shamed by their own sick ambitions, and have yet to
realize it. Once they do, they would serve the nation best by just slinking
away
That
we have reached the Promised Land is assured. That we will stay there,
with so many enemies of freedom still at large, here, and in places of
power, is yet to be seen. If we ever lose America to conservatism again,
it will be our duty to remember what freedom was like, and carry that
message to the next generation, that it may someday return.
