(no subject)
I just got back from voting.
8 years ago I wrote a letter to John McCain urging him to keep up the good fight. I was one of the people he was talking about when he spoke about people supporting him from all over the political spectrum.
If you had told me that he would run into 2008 and I wouldn't be voting for him, I would have said you were crazy.
If you had told me that I would be quoting staunch conservative Andrew Sullivan's endorsement of a candidate back then, I would have said you had lost your mind.
But the world has changed. These are serious times, we need serious leaders.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/barack-obama-fo.html
"If I were to give one reason why I believe electing Barack Obama is essential tomorrow, it would be an end to this dark, lawless period in American constitutional government."
"His fiscal policies are too liberal for me - I don't believe in raising taxes, I believe in cutting entitlements for the middle classes as the way to fiscal balance. I don't believe in "progressive taxation", I support a flat tax. I don't want to give unions any more power. I'm sure there will be moments when a Democratic Congress will make me wince. But I also understand that money has to come from somewhere, and it will not come in any meaningful measure from freezing pork or the other transparent gimmicks advertized in advance by McCain. McCain is not serious on spending. But he is deadly serious in not touching taxes. So, on the core question of debt, on bringing America back to fiscal reason, Obama is still better than McCain. If I have to take an ideological hit to head toward fiscal solvency, I'll put country before ideology."
"We cannot do that if we trash our own values ourselves. It is self-defeating. We cannot be a beacon to the world until we have reformed ourselves. In this war, we are also fighting for an America that does not lose its soul in fighting our enemy. Just because we are fighting evil does not mean we cannot ourselves succumb to it. That is what my Christian faith teaches me - that no nation has a monopoly on virtue, and that every generation has to earn its own integrity. I fear and believe we have given away far too much - and that, while this loss is permanent, it can nonetheless be mitigated by a new start, a new direction, a new statement that the America the world once knew and loved is back."
"But there is something about his rise that is also supremely American, a reminder of why so many of us love this country so passionately and are filled with such grief at what has been done to it and in its name. I endorse Barack Obama because I will not give up on America, because I believe in America, and in her constitution and decency and character and strength.
And the world needs that America now as much as it ever has. Can we start that healing, that rebirth, tomorrow?
Yes. We. Can."
***
Had you told me that the Democratic candidate for President would be a "Horatio Alger" figure right out of Ronald Reagan's vision of America, where any one can work their way up in life with hard work, dedication, the strength of their family and the bedrock of their faith - I would have seriously been looking for a facility for you.
But all of those things have happened.
There are some people who think he is "the next great thing" in a long line of leaders who raise our eyes to the sky and our hopes and spirits to levels without limits.
I know the reality of that. Which is that no one is ever a hero in their own time or in their home town. Every single "great leader" had struggles and wasn't always the best man, but they were the right person for the job that needed to be done.
Is that Obama?
Some say yes. Others say no.
I say that he's a good man who can and will continue to inspire a new generation into civil responsibility and civic pride.
Will he win? I don't know.
I hope so though.
IF he gets into office I look forward to disagreeing with him on many issues just as Congress (regardless of its controlling party) is going to make moves against his legislative agenda with some of their own.
He is going to face people who don't want Republicans serving on the Cabinet.
He is going to have be a little bit of something to everyone while under fire from the Right. People on both sides will be upset with him at various times. Some will say he is trying to do too much, and others will say it's not enough.
But can he govern successfully?
I believe that answer to be yes, he can.
I've voted. I voted for the grandson of a woman they called Toot. I voted for a kid named Barry who traveled the world making friends and learning about the world around him not with fear but with wonder.
I voted. Have you?
8 years ago I wrote a letter to John McCain urging him to keep up the good fight. I was one of the people he was talking about when he spoke about people supporting him from all over the political spectrum.
If you had told me that he would run into 2008 and I wouldn't be voting for him, I would have said you were crazy.
If you had told me that I would be quoting staunch conservative Andrew Sullivan's endorsement of a candidate back then, I would have said you had lost your mind.
But the world has changed. These are serious times, we need serious leaders.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/barack-obama-fo.html
"If I were to give one reason why I believe electing Barack Obama is essential tomorrow, it would be an end to this dark, lawless period in American constitutional government."
"His fiscal policies are too liberal for me - I don't believe in raising taxes, I believe in cutting entitlements for the middle classes as the way to fiscal balance. I don't believe in "progressive taxation", I support a flat tax. I don't want to give unions any more power. I'm sure there will be moments when a Democratic Congress will make me wince. But I also understand that money has to come from somewhere, and it will not come in any meaningful measure from freezing pork or the other transparent gimmicks advertized in advance by McCain. McCain is not serious on spending. But he is deadly serious in not touching taxes. So, on the core question of debt, on bringing America back to fiscal reason, Obama is still better than McCain. If I have to take an ideological hit to head toward fiscal solvency, I'll put country before ideology."
"We cannot do that if we trash our own values ourselves. It is self-defeating. We cannot be a beacon to the world until we have reformed ourselves. In this war, we are also fighting for an America that does not lose its soul in fighting our enemy. Just because we are fighting evil does not mean we cannot ourselves succumb to it. That is what my Christian faith teaches me - that no nation has a monopoly on virtue, and that every generation has to earn its own integrity. I fear and believe we have given away far too much - and that, while this loss is permanent, it can nonetheless be mitigated by a new start, a new direction, a new statement that the America the world once knew and loved is back."
"But there is something about his rise that is also supremely American, a reminder of why so many of us love this country so passionately and are filled with such grief at what has been done to it and in its name. I endorse Barack Obama because I will not give up on America, because I believe in America, and in her constitution and decency and character and strength.
And the world needs that America now as much as it ever has. Can we start that healing, that rebirth, tomorrow?
Yes. We. Can."
***
Had you told me that the Democratic candidate for President would be a "Horatio Alger" figure right out of Ronald Reagan's vision of America, where any one can work their way up in life with hard work, dedication, the strength of their family and the bedrock of their faith - I would have seriously been looking for a facility for you.
But all of those things have happened.
There are some people who think he is "the next great thing" in a long line of leaders who raise our eyes to the sky and our hopes and spirits to levels without limits.
I know the reality of that. Which is that no one is ever a hero in their own time or in their home town. Every single "great leader" had struggles and wasn't always the best man, but they were the right person for the job that needed to be done.
Is that Obama?
Some say yes. Others say no.
I say that he's a good man who can and will continue to inspire a new generation into civil responsibility and civic pride.
Will he win? I don't know.
I hope so though.
IF he gets into office I look forward to disagreeing with him on many issues just as Congress (regardless of its controlling party) is going to make moves against his legislative agenda with some of their own.
He is going to face people who don't want Republicans serving on the Cabinet.
He is going to have be a little bit of something to everyone while under fire from the Right. People on both sides will be upset with him at various times. Some will say he is trying to do too much, and others will say it's not enough.
But can he govern successfully?
I believe that answer to be yes, he can.
I've voted. I voted for the grandson of a woman they called Toot. I voted for a kid named Barry who traveled the world making friends and learning about the world around him not with fear but with wonder.
I voted. Have you?