It is Morning in America Again

February 26th, 2008 at 11:41pm Johnny Boyd 41

We all want to matter. We all want to have meaning in our lives. We all want to be relevant to something, and a lot of these people don’t feel that about themselves. They feel empty, and they’re trying to fill the emptiness, fill the void. And Obama does. Obama gives them hope that they’re going to be something…

Rush Limbaugh
2/21/2008

Thank you, Rush. In a few words you have summed up the Obama candidacy. In a few words you have summed up America. In a few words you have summed up the disgust with the war, the embarrassment over torture, the crime of having our phones bugged by the government and every other scandal and injustice wrought in the last seven years of darkness wrought by your precious Republican party.

There is a problem when America itself doesn’t inspire hope. When wars must be waged (and that should be seldom) it should be to defend our country and not to further the profits of the military-industrial complex. Real Americans would rather die than lower the bar to torture our fellow human beings, no matter how despicable or dangerous. We are a country of laws and allowing the government to spy on the conversations of Americans without a warrant tears a hole in the Constitution and the hope that the world feels when it thinks of the United States. For the last seven years the armor of hope that America once wore has been chinked and worn away and now it will take a man who believes in it to restore it. Obama gives us the hope that this country will be something…

If people are empty, it’s because the America they grew up believing in has temporarily disappeared and was replaced with moneychangers at every level of society. Money and wealth are important, but it isn’t the only thing. We want our country to have meaning, to be a beacon of light in a world of darkness, to stand for something besides the ability to market cars –– to be respected. It is what we aspire for our children to become. Shouldn’t our country be cut from the same cloth?

We want our strength returned and I’m not talking about the military. We spout slogans about being the greatest country in world as if we were Muhammed Ali on a Starbuck’s binge, but at every turn we are reminded we are not. Our bridges fall down, our economy falls down, major cities are wiped from the map and left to rot, our soldiers fall and we don’t give them the care they need to pick themselves back up. It is shameful.

We are a great country among many great countries. But we are a people whose ideals have been beaten down by the forces of greed wrapped up in a so-called “conservative” ideology. We moan and gripe about using our tax dollars to help the unfortunate but we say nothing as we give our tax dollars to the corporate welfare clients. The people no longer want tax cuts for the wealthy and benefits cuts for our senior citizens. We can’t continue to give tax breaks to entities that pay America back by doing so little for it. (Thanks Exxon Mobil!)

We want to live in a country that believes free speech shouldn’t be relegated to “zones.” A place where patriotism isn’t measured by how big the flag is on your SUV, or your lapel. We deserve a country that doesn’t allow its government to spy on its citizens and everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty. A country of ideals and ideas. We want to return to the America our founding fathers envisioned and our grandfathers fought for. An America that believes in the Constitution and not politicians or radio talk show hosts.

Rush Limbaugh claims that Obama’s idealistic words come from naïveté and outdated “socialist” thinking that was defeated years ago. However, given the last seven years of warmongering, tax cutting and the unholy alliance of government and business we now find ourselves living under the outdated “fascist” thinking that was defeated years ago. In 2008, “Republican” means fascist and “Democrat” does too, for that matter. The shining city on the hill has lost its luster because it was temporarily taken over by men who didn’t believe in its promise. We truly need change.

Obama inspires the ideas and ideals America aspires to be. Americans want inspiration and we are willing to sacrifice; we don’t want to go shopping. We believe Obama will be a leader that makes decisions based on his principles and not on political expediency. (Too many have died because of political expediency.) Whether that is how it will be (we realize the game must be played) it is how we want it. We have to begin somewhere and Obama is the best choice.

Obama does give us hope. He isn’t the messiah and no one thinks he is. (Reagan was the messiah, right Rush?) He speaks more eloquently and with more passion than Rush. He isn’t angry like Rush. He hasn’t said one word to make us fearful. He believes that America can be better than it has been during these dark times. Obama is the new, improved “great communicator.”

It is morning in America again.

Johnny is a columnist for the Snowmass Sun and the author of the book for little skiers, First Tracks.

Entry Filed under: Snowmass, Politics, United Post, Colorado