Wednesday, 27 February 2008

• Speaking from the Mind, Leading from the Heart

  Okay, as I've said before, I support Barack Obama for President of ithe Unuited States. There's two components in that, both emotional and intellectual. He hits both of them squarely. Obama is mixed race, though he identifies himself as black... I personally don't think being "black" is much of a selling point when it comes to running for President. We all know how well that did for Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Alan Keyes (Who? Exactly). Truth is, on the intellectual side, he's got the experience, the strategy, and the aptitude to make the changes of which he speaks. On the emotional side, he's got the right message... unity and collective resolve for the betterment of our country. It's really, really good stuff.
  
  At any rate, there's a campaign tactic that centers on repeating things over and over, and people tend to start believing it is true without questioning it independently. Its this assertion that he has no experience or that he's somehow some nefarious "plant" from a foreign power, or any number of other ridiculous things. Some feminists have even said, ridiculously, that if Obama were a woman, he'd have been laughed out of his candidacy before it had started. --Let's be serious... as far as the Democratic race is concerned... ALL of the EXPERIENCE candidates were summarily ignored. Biden, Dodd, Richardson... like it or not, Hillary Clinton's "experience" wasn't why she survived the first cuts. She survived because: a.) She's a Clinton b.) She's a woman. c.) She's been in the White House. d.) She's a very smart and articulate politician. Her
  "experience" had nothing to do with it, as frustrating as that may sound to these people. And, believe it or not, all feminists don't automatically support her. I'll share some feelings about an interview on NPR with Geraldyne Farraro in another post.
  
  I had to share something though. Some time ago, I ran into a YouTube video that made me proud. It hit the nail on the head, intellectually... on one of the reasons I support Obama. When I saw Derrick's big black face, and the ominous title, "Typical Obama Supporter?" I was a little fearful, but I watched, and slowly... I began to smile.
  
  

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kica8hmSdAM

  Some weeks later, I'm browsing YouTube, and I find Derrick's made a follow-up video, after recieving SO MUCH response (the video got Dugg a ba-jillion times on Digg.com). He entitled the video "Why I Support Obama - The Emotional Response". As much as I always keep my cynicism at close range, by the end of this video, I found myself a little choked up. He managed to put into words my own feelings about what I want most for America. Go Derrick. Good on ya.
  

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2zO5d-XZWA

  Anyway. Felt compelled to post some thoughts. I've been a little quite on Xanga since all my comments were deleted and Xanga stopped talking to me about it. I haven't moved on yet... not fully, so... there you go.
  

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