"My name is Andrew Shepard and I AM the President."
Tonight was one of those moments that will sit in my memory for the rest of my life. It's there with the moment I heard Princess Diana had died. It's there with the moment I heard that Bob Knight was rumored to be going to Texas Tech (and the night that followed). It's there with Election Night 2000 -- my first night at The University Daily -- watching election returns over turkey sandwiches, walking home to my dorm and marveling at the moonlight on the freshly fallen snow, and finding that the election was actually "too close to call" as soon as I got there. And it's there with the day I spent braving single-digit temperatures with Mark (ugh) and antee_k in downtown Midland to see the soon-to-be-inaugurated President make a speech. (And whatever your political affiliation, that was and will remain a great moment for me.)
I requested to leave early tonight so that I might get home in time for Barack Obama's speech at 7:15. In the end, I didn't get to leave as early as I hoped, but it wouldn't have mattered. Traffic was hellacious from the moment I pulled out of the parking garage (including the D-Bag in the Benz who felt he needed to go around me and the admittedly-slow-moving Lexus in front of me to turn right). rotatingpies and I then made plans to meet up at Barney's Beanery to watch, but upon my arrival, I found that not only were they not showing non-sporting events, but they weren't even playing audio for those sporting events. (Side note: COLLEGE FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND!) Defeated, I went back to my car, having missed the first five minutes of the speech. I don't know what I was expecting -- I guess I expected a good speech. I did not expect such a moving speech. I have to admit that I've found some of his more recent speeches to be a little generic (slightly derivative of speeches he'd made before), but this one absolutely blew me away. It reminded me again why I support this candidate, why I believe in this man. The speech lasted the entire remainder of my commute home. I sat in my car in front of the halfway house, listening to NPR and waving to my roommate, parked on the other side of the street and doing the same thing. Here are some highlights for me:
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need...
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort...
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America....
Some people like to talk about how what he says is a pipe dream. And you know, I'm a practical person. I know that there is a good chance that not everything he talks about won't happen. This is still Washington, D.C. But you know, I believe him when he says he wants to improve things. I would rather have someone want that improvement, to believe it can be done. John F. Kennedy said that we would be on the moon in ten years. People poo-pooed on that, but nine years later? My ten-year-old mother was watching coverage on the television. Rather than place my confidence in someone who talks about what can't be done, I choose to have someone who'll try. Because we will never get there if we don't try. And I want an America that wants to try again.
Because you know what? I think we can all agree that there are things that need to be fixed, and rather than pointing fingers at who is to blame for said things, let's try to fix them. My sister is looking at going into the Air Force, and I want better things for her than our current veterans are getting. I'm sitting on top of $28,000 in student loan debt. I don't want that for my children. That's also something I'm having to look at -- in four or eight years, I will (God willing) have children of my own. Decisions we as a nation make now will affect them. I want a good education for my babies. I want better, more affordable, healthcare for my babies. And I don't want my babies growing up having nightmares of nuclear warfare like I did. With the polarization going on in the world right now, we are headed back into a Cold War-type atmosphere. People have always known me for my optimism and my idealism, and I feel like that if these things don't change -- if Washington doesn't change -- I will change. With the world in its current state, it's so easy for me to slip into pessimism.
I am independent voter. I will never register as either party. I (would have) voted Republican in 2000 and will be voting Democratic this year. Who knows how I'll vote in 2012 or 2016. That will all depend on my experiences up until that point. Where will I be? Will I be married? Will I have children? What will I be doing for a living? Exciting questions that I will have to wait to find the answer to. I know now that I am a different person than I was when I was snowed-in that day in 2000. I am a different person than I was when I cast my ballot off of Washington Blvd. in 2004. The values my family instilled me with back in West Texas are ever present -- they are my framework. But I've met new people, people whose own experiences have opened my eyes and further shaped the mold that is me. (For instance, if you eff with my Kyle, I will cut you.)
I would also like to express my discontent with certain people (coughcoughjamesdobsoncoughcough) and their behavior of late. Now, I love James Dobson. I used to listen to Focus on the Family every morning on the way to work. I've read a couple of his books. But his statement today regarding praying for rain to wash Senator Obama out was just wrong. I'm also especially irritated with people who are insisting that Obama's popularity is a sign that it's the END OF THE WORLD! Puhleeze, people. Last time I checked -- and I don't think the Holy Bible has changed much since the last time I read Revelations (which I haven't read in a while because it scares the poo out of me) -- only God knows when he's going to end it. So, chill out and stop with the propaganda already. You're giving us a bad name and making me scared to go to church on Sunday.
I wrote a column back in 2000 that makes me laugh now. Hindsight is 20-20, after all. That said, I still agree with the basic sentiment of it all. No matter who is elected in November (and I hope it is my candidate), all we can do is pray that our new President makes the right decisions. You can read the column here, if you'd like.
In closing, I'd like to post a clip that I couldn't help but think of when I listened to the speech tonight. One of my favorite movie moments ever.
P.S. I think that Senator McCain's political ad tonight was really classy. I'm just sayin'.
I requested to leave early tonight so that I might get home in time for Barack Obama's speech at 7:15. In the end, I didn't get to leave as early as I hoped, but it wouldn't have mattered. Traffic was hellacious from the moment I pulled out of the parking garage (including the D-Bag in the Benz who felt he needed to go around me and the admittedly-slow-moving Lexus in front of me to turn right). rotatingpies and I then made plans to meet up at Barney's Beanery to watch, but upon my arrival, I found that not only were they not showing non-sporting events, but they weren't even playing audio for those sporting events. (Side note: COLLEGE FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND!) Defeated, I went back to my car, having missed the first five minutes of the speech. I don't know what I was expecting -- I guess I expected a good speech. I did not expect such a moving speech. I have to admit that I've found some of his more recent speeches to be a little generic (slightly derivative of speeches he'd made before), but this one absolutely blew me away. It reminded me again why I support this candidate, why I believe in this man. The speech lasted the entire remainder of my commute home. I sat in my car in front of the halfway house, listening to NPR and waving to my roommate, parked on the other side of the street and doing the same thing. Here are some highlights for me:
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need...
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort...
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America....
Some people like to talk about how what he says is a pipe dream. And you know, I'm a practical person. I know that there is a good chance that not everything he talks about won't happen. This is still Washington, D.C. But you know, I believe him when he says he wants to improve things. I would rather have someone want that improvement, to believe it can be done. John F. Kennedy said that we would be on the moon in ten years. People poo-pooed on that, but nine years later? My ten-year-old mother was watching coverage on the television. Rather than place my confidence in someone who talks about what can't be done, I choose to have someone who'll try. Because we will never get there if we don't try. And I want an America that wants to try again.
Because you know what? I think we can all agree that there are things that need to be fixed, and rather than pointing fingers at who is to blame for said things, let's try to fix them. My sister is looking at going into the Air Force, and I want better things for her than our current veterans are getting. I'm sitting on top of $28,000 in student loan debt. I don't want that for my children. That's also something I'm having to look at -- in four or eight years, I will (God willing) have children of my own. Decisions we as a nation make now will affect them. I want a good education for my babies. I want better, more affordable, healthcare for my babies. And I don't want my babies growing up having nightmares of nuclear warfare like I did. With the polarization going on in the world right now, we are headed back into a Cold War-type atmosphere. People have always known me for my optimism and my idealism, and I feel like that if these things don't change -- if Washington doesn't change -- I will change. With the world in its current state, it's so easy for me to slip into pessimism.
I am independent voter. I will never register as either party. I (would have) voted Republican in 2000 and will be voting Democratic this year. Who knows how I'll vote in 2012 or 2016. That will all depend on my experiences up until that point. Where will I be? Will I be married? Will I have children? What will I be doing for a living? Exciting questions that I will have to wait to find the answer to. I know now that I am a different person than I was when I was snowed-in that day in 2000. I am a different person than I was when I cast my ballot off of Washington Blvd. in 2004. The values my family instilled me with back in West Texas are ever present -- they are my framework. But I've met new people, people whose own experiences have opened my eyes and further shaped the mold that is me. (For instance, if you eff with my Kyle, I will cut you.)
I would also like to express my discontent with certain people (coughcoughjamesdobsoncoughcough) and their behavior of late. Now, I love James Dobson. I used to listen to Focus on the Family every morning on the way to work. I've read a couple of his books. But his statement today regarding praying for rain to wash Senator Obama out was just wrong. I'm also especially irritated with people who are insisting that Obama's popularity is a sign that it's the END OF THE WORLD! Puhleeze, people. Last time I checked -- and I don't think the Holy Bible has changed much since the last time I read Revelations (which I haven't read in a while because it scares the poo out of me) -- only God knows when he's going to end it. So, chill out and stop with the propaganda already. You're giving us a bad name and making me scared to go to church on Sunday.
I wrote a column back in 2000 that makes me laugh now. Hindsight is 20-20, after all. That said, I still agree with the basic sentiment of it all. No matter who is elected in November (and I hope it is my candidate), all we can do is pray that our new President makes the right decisions. You can read the column here, if you'd like.
In closing, I'd like to post a clip that I couldn't help but think of when I listened to the speech tonight. One of my favorite movie moments ever.
P.S. I think that Senator McCain's political ad tonight was really classy. I'm just sayin'.