(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
I’ve said a lot, here in these pages, about the nuances of government policy, and power. I’ve said a lot about how difficult it is to change things, and poorly we understand the task ahead of us. And I’ve said that I feel that the policies advocated by the Democratic Party and their nominee for President, Barack Obama, are not all that I have hoped for, or that I think we need.
But it is not merely the details that matter. Part of it is the ability for us to believe in ourselves. We have a difficult time simply accepting our world as it really is. We have an exponentially more difficult time accepting the idea that it could really be different. That we can be different.
Every day, we have more reason to be cynical, to be pessimistic. There is a never-ending litany of the dangers we face, both lurking around every corner in the present, and looming in our future. Tonight, as Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, Vladamir Putin said that “the suspicion would arise that someone in the United States created {the conflict in the former Soviet republic of Georgia} on purpose to stir up the situation and to create an advantage for one of the candidates in the competitive race for the presidency in the United States.” Can we have any trouble dismissing him, after our government created a false crisis in Iraq? Tonight, as Obama accepted the nomination, another storm is arriving in New Orleans. Can we have confidence that the public services that we have purchased with our hard-earned money will be there for them, after they failed them so spectacularly three years ago?
It is difficult to believe, in our leaders and in ourselves. I have a hard time with it often, both as a citizen, and as a person. Indeed, often in my bitterness with the world as it is and as it has been, I wonder why I am possibly so gullible as to believe that things can change, and that they can be better, and whether I can even possibly contribute a share, even one three millionth of the total effort.
And tonight, watching Barack Obama speak, I am reminded why. Because, to the extent that I know anything, I know that he believes it is possible. He believes that our world can be different. He believes that I can be different. He believes I can be better, that I can be a better person tomorrow, and next year, and ten years from now. And he believes that our world can be better. He believes in me. He believes in us. And belief is infectious. That is what I believe.
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…and good luck to us all.
for me was that of holding the Bush administration accountable.
Accountability for the crimes done by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld… is essential for the survival of the United States of America.
My fear is that Obama and the Congressional Democrats will let bygones be bygones and, once again, sweep the previous administration’s high crimes and misdemeanors under the rug… where the lurk for the next power-crazed authoritarian. They did it with Nixon. They did it with Reagan/Bush.
Will they have learned by now?
to you, NPK, and mishima (sorry, I’m too tired to do the links) for expressing some of the feelings I’m having as I watch all this unfold but can’t quite figure out how to put into words.
The battle with cynicism is something I’m definitely experiencing – how much is enough and when does it keep me from believing anything?
thanks for this, Jay.
just a note: i didn’t see any of the speeches with the exception of Al Gore and Barak. i’ve read that they were inspiring to hear/see.
what i came away with last night was less about yet another inspiring speech from Obama (a gift that flows from his core), and more about his inclination towards… exactly what you’ve said here, Jay… the work.
so… no tears for me last night. no heart swell. just a calmness and clear eye. i’ll take that.
this essay captured that perfectly.
one that we the people have to take. This is unity i can believe in, one worth the tossing of the dice.