Does Barack Obama need another commentary from a Blogger? Not really. But I can't help myself. As I read the myriad collection of sage ponderances on his candidacy, pro and con I cannot help but think that everyone is missing the point.
Oh, really? What do I see that others do not? How arrogant of me! How presumptious! Well, maybe it is just a tad presumptious, but I have the advantage of a perspective that is perhaps fresher than that of many pundits. Sometimes I feel like a modern day Rip Van Winkle; returning to the United States to discover that so much has evolved differently than one would have expected. Of course, unlike Rip separation by sleep is not the issue. While aware of the controversies and the punditry going on it was always from a perspective of an outsider looking in.
Even from that vantage point there developed a perspective of the sad demise of confidence. The American people have lost confidence in so many things throughout the years. We are skeptical about just about everything. We no longer believe what is told to us. We can't believe what major companies tell us because look at what Enron and others have done with our willingness to believe. We can't trust bankers because look what their greed has done to the housing industry. We have lost trust in our priests, our teachers, the safety of tomatoes and jalapeños, cranes, bridges, tunnels, vaccinations, health insurance, hurricane insurance, and emails from Nigeria wanting to make us millionairs. We certainly can't trust what the government tells us because (now here the list is too long so I've just chosen a few examples) they really did conduct experiments on innocent people in Tuskegee, voter registration really was tainted in the South, they really did support Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, he really did have an affair with THAT woman, there really weren't any weapons of mass destruction, there really wasn't any sniper fire to duck from ... Like the elephant in the room there is mass awareness of the death of confidence but everyone is just tip-toeing around the cadaver, hoping no one will have the audacity to mention the rotting carcass in the corner.
Along comes Barack Obama and he speaks to the the vacuum of ideology that this skepticism has created. We WANT to believe in the American Dream; we WANT to have hope in ourselves, in our government, in our future but THEY keep doing things that make it hard to keep the faith! He verbalizes ... and does it so well ... what so many of the American people want to hear and believe. He speaks to our collective need to once again believe that those in power can use the power for the greater good not just for their personal greater power. There certainly IS audacity in hope when the tangible evidence diminishes hope and doom and gloom is the message of the day on every possible communication venue.
His oratory inspires, uplifts and upholds the aspirations not just of our own people but of people around the world! Obama's recent International tour; certainly the first time the International scene has been used as stumping ground for US voters, has thrust the viability of his candidacy upon the citizens of other nations. As reported by William Kristol in the New York Times the chief editor of Der Spiegel's foreign desk stated, " Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessaeule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States." Pretty impressive, eh? 200,000 Germans were wowed by a young candidate for president! But, why is a candidate for the highest office in the United States campaigning in Europe?
So what is the point that I think others are missing? Simply put, I fear that we are too eager to fill the void that the death of confidence has left and that we are getting carried away by euphemisms, oratorical flourish and our yearning for a return to the days where we believed what we were told. There is something to be said for experience. Idealism is only as good as the means by which it is implemented. Having great ideals and being effective are two very different things. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" wasn't a quote from Roosevelt but from Hoover in 1928. Those living in "Hoovervilles" learned how unreal the idealism of Hoover economics turned out to be.
Like many others...I WANT to believe but there is a funny feeling in my gut that tells me something just isn't right here. Something smacks of too good to be true.
Hmmmmm.
Oh, really? What do I see that others do not? How arrogant of me! How presumptious! Well, maybe it is just a tad presumptious, but I have the advantage of a perspective that is perhaps fresher than that of many pundits. Sometimes I feel like a modern day Rip Van Winkle; returning to the United States to discover that so much has evolved differently than one would have expected. Of course, unlike Rip separation by sleep is not the issue. While aware of the controversies and the punditry going on it was always from a perspective of an outsider looking in.
Even from that vantage point there developed a perspective of the sad demise of confidence. The American people have lost confidence in so many things throughout the years. We are skeptical about just about everything. We no longer believe what is told to us. We can't believe what major companies tell us because look at what Enron and others have done with our willingness to believe. We can't trust bankers because look what their greed has done to the housing industry. We have lost trust in our priests, our teachers, the safety of tomatoes and jalapeños, cranes, bridges, tunnels, vaccinations, health insurance, hurricane insurance, and emails from Nigeria wanting to make us millionairs. We certainly can't trust what the government tells us because (now here the list is too long so I've just chosen a few examples) they really did conduct experiments on innocent people in Tuskegee, voter registration really was tainted in the South, they really did support Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, he really did have an affair with THAT woman, there really weren't any weapons of mass destruction, there really wasn't any sniper fire to duck from ... Like the elephant in the room there is mass awareness of the death of confidence but everyone is just tip-toeing around the cadaver, hoping no one will have the audacity to mention the rotting carcass in the corner.
Along comes Barack Obama and he speaks to the the vacuum of ideology that this skepticism has created. We WANT to believe in the American Dream; we WANT to have hope in ourselves, in our government, in our future but THEY keep doing things that make it hard to keep the faith! He verbalizes ... and does it so well ... what so many of the American people want to hear and believe. He speaks to our collective need to once again believe that those in power can use the power for the greater good not just for their personal greater power. There certainly IS audacity in hope when the tangible evidence diminishes hope and doom and gloom is the message of the day on every possible communication venue.
His oratory inspires, uplifts and upholds the aspirations not just of our own people but of people around the world! Obama's recent International tour; certainly the first time the International scene has been used as stumping ground for US voters, has thrust the viability of his candidacy upon the citizens of other nations. As reported by William Kristol in the New York Times the chief editor of Der Spiegel's foreign desk stated, " Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessaeule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States." Pretty impressive, eh? 200,000 Germans were wowed by a young candidate for president! But, why is a candidate for the highest office in the United States campaigning in Europe?
So what is the point that I think others are missing? Simply put, I fear that we are too eager to fill the void that the death of confidence has left and that we are getting carried away by euphemisms, oratorical flourish and our yearning for a return to the days where we believed what we were told. There is something to be said for experience. Idealism is only as good as the means by which it is implemented. Having great ideals and being effective are two very different things. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" wasn't a quote from Roosevelt but from Hoover in 1928. Those living in "Hoovervilles" learned how unreal the idealism of Hoover economics turned out to be.
Like many others...I WANT to believe but there is a funny feeling in my gut that tells me something just isn't right here. Something smacks of too good to be true.
Hmmmmm.
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