Michelle Obama & Patriotism
I thought Michelle Obama gave a very nice, stirring speech at the convention last night. I found it quite moving at times. I thought the beginning was a bit too much about her brother (who cares?) but she wove it all in by the end. It was a little awkward at the beginning, too, before she warmed up. I also think it was a little silly with the girls talking to Daddy on the monitor at the end as he said goodnight from some other city. (Why are they doing that? It's unnecessary and silly. Get him to Denver already, and he can say goodnight to his girls in person and some other person can tell the "everyday stories" if that's what he's doing from wherever that was.) And it was a little too much "God bless America" for my tastes, because I don't think God-if-there-is-a-God does the blessing individual nations thing. But I understand she had to sound both patriotic and religious because of the charges that have been leveled against her and Barack. And perhaps she is both that patriotic and that religious. It wasn't at a very offensive level for me, because, after all, you'd hear the same thing from just about any politician.
About patriotism, as she was talking, it was connecting me back to this Time article on "The War Over Patriotism" I read about patriotism recently. I haven't called myself patriotic in at least eight years, maybe longer, maybe never. This article helped me reconnect to the idea of patriotism. I think the Obama campaign, too, has given me more hope for the future, and as my patriotism is the dream of who we can be as a nation, the more that dream is awakened and kept alive, the more patriotic I feel. So I would say that this campaign has made me feel patriotic again, or perhaps patriotic for the first time.
Here's Michelle's speech, if you missed it, part one. You'll need to link to part 2.
About patriotism, as she was talking, it was connecting me back to this Time article on "The War Over Patriotism" I read about patriotism recently. I haven't called myself patriotic in at least eight years, maybe longer, maybe never. This article helped me reconnect to the idea of patriotism. I think the Obama campaign, too, has given me more hope for the future, and as my patriotism is the dream of who we can be as a nation, the more that dream is awakened and kept alive, the more patriotic I feel. So I would say that this campaign has made me feel patriotic again, or perhaps patriotic for the first time.
Here's Michelle's speech, if you missed it, part one. You'll need to link to part 2.
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