Jackson Free Press

It's three days until the election. (In my need to get it over with, I don't count the current day or Election Day. That makes it come sooner.) It is so stressful waiting to see which way America will turn on Nov. 4; will we choose hope and progress, or fear and regression? Will enough Americans buy Sarah Palin's hate-soaked tirades and give her the opportunity to further divide our nation, or John McCain the chance to fall apart on a national stage?

We are at a crossroads, that point in history where so much is possible if we reach out and take it. Our younger generations are hungry for it; they don't want the division, and the hate, and the old-fashioned fearmongering over socialism. They want us older folks to move into the place where they already are. They don't fear being called "liberal," or progressive, or even socialist. They are too busy trying to figure out how to help others, and many of them actually know what "socialism" means because they bother to look it up.

But there are too many people who want to hold onto the past, who want division and distrust of the other and "that one." They grab hold of the easiest sound bite without bothering to factcheck it to prove that Barack Obama is all the bad stuff they want him to be. Why? I can only guess that they have forgotten how to hope and believe. Maybe they've known how to reject division. They're still broken and want the rest of us to be broken, too. It is not possible to vote for Palin, and the new version of McCain, if you don't want division. She made that clear the day she talked about "Real America," rejecting all of America that does not embrace her and the old ideas she represents.

One of my interns told me today that I should read Roger Cohen's column about Obama and hope; I just clicked to it, and it took me to a different place, beyond the restless fear that our country will continue down the same road George W. Bush took us down. I especially liked the ending:

Dialogue, between Americans and beyond America, has been a constant theme. Last year, I spoke to Obama, who told me: "Part of our capacity to lead is linked to our capacity to show restraint."

Watching the way he has allowed his opponents' weaknesses to reveal themselves, the way he has enticed them into self-defeating exhaustion pounding against the wall of his equanimity, I have come to understand better what he meant.

Stories require restraint, too. Restraint engages the imagination, which has always been stirred by the American idea, and can be once again.

It is so true. Obama is a hero of mine right now, as I told a couple of people earlier today, father-son evangelicals whom I suspect want to believe the worst about him, even as I see searching light in their eyes. I believe he wants this dialogue, and will help foster. And perhaps most importantly, he will allow those who do not to expose themselves and their desire for divisiveness in a way we have probably never seen. This is what I want so badly; this is what we need as a country. The dark side has to be exposed to the light, and that is no easy feat.

Obama may be a hero, but it's the new generation who inspire me. I really think I know what he means when he says that it's not about him. It's not.

Previous Comments

ID

140082

Comment

This column and another one made me think of Congressman Adam Clayton Powell who came to Congress from New York, Harlem, I bleieve, and was immediately rejected by many white members of Congress as a fellow congressman, especially the southern ones, as you can imagine. He decided he would make them respect him by the use of his intellect and manhood, not by any cow-towing or Toming ways. Whenever he needed a room or an aisle all to himself all he had to do was sit near some of the southern gentlemen and they would immediately move or leave the room. Being the dapper Alpha man he was, he'd say thanks gentlemen for respecting my need for privacy. You're such southern gentlemen." Of course, he was having fun and making fun at their ignorance and childishness at the same time. It got to a point where he felt like he could keep them off the floor and voting just by walking nearby. He was quite willing to do it too, but they soon grew up. In order to start the process of improvement, education, bonding or fear-relief, the right people have to get in the right rooms or right places to cause the desired ffect. Barack has performed like a champion at evey level. He has been Cornell West, W.E.B DuBois, Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owens, Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, Tony Dungy and Doug Williams. He had the audacity to hope like no other black person I've met. It's rather easy to hope when all you have to depend on is yourself or your team. It's altogher different when you have to depend on the good graces, intellect and power of others to achieve your goals. Few of us blacks would have believed white folks could be rallied in this manner and look beyond race to this extent. No matter what happens farther on down the road, Barack has proven that one of us can play on the big stage and weather everything the enemy has to offer yet still stand and ask "what else y'all got." I'm inspired to an extent that I can't state in words, although I'm a dreamer and obstinate by nature. If Barack wins, it's my prayer and hope that he takes advantage of this great moment in time and do all he can to make sure the racists and dividers retreat back to the hellholes they came from. Furthermore, I hope he can improve the lives, fortunes, and health status of all citizens and return America back to the place others looked upon as a beacon of hope and decency. We lost our way and place in the world when we started to think power, wealth and military might were the only definitions that counted.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-10-31T16:33:55-06:00

ID

140084

Comment

In the end, I think what many people, I assume a majority, will decide is that they yearn for a coming together and thus will cast their vote for Obama. They are tired of the divisiveness, vindictiveness and hatefulness of the Bush years, and the endorsement of that kind of politics by McCain, as evidenced by his choice of running mate, campaign staff and the viciousness of his campaign. People are tired of the absence of leadership. They are tired of the lesser of two evils. They are tired of politics that only wins by tearing the other side down. That is why, in spite of all of his conventional political weaknesses, Obama is leading and will win. I think it is an interesting time to be someone who considers themselves progressive: who will we demonize and rail against, what will it be like to have someone we have helped elect when he does something we do not agree with? Will we be able to shed our partisan clothes and rethink the problems of this country and our place in the world without starting out in opposition to the other side? Can we stand naked without our comfortable fixed ideas of right and wrong, left and right, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican? It will not be easy. I would vote for Obama even if I disagreed with him on every major policy issue (which I do not) precisely because I think he understands how important it is to rid this country of the cancer of viciousness and hate, propelled by the 24 hour news cycle and pundits and spokespeople and all the other nonsense on television and radio and the internet, and yes by political parties and candidates. I love watching Keith Olbermann on MSNBC but I have no illusions that after Nov. 4th MSNBC may have a very different look. The party in power will no longer be "the other". Governing is difficult. America we have tough days ahead of us, hard choices and restless nights. We will come through this, but only when we realize we must do so together, not as red and blue states but as these united states. I don't know that I have your optimism about the younger generation, but I know that if the rest of us change our ways it will make it a whole lot easier for them to change the nature of government and politics in this country.

Author

annyimiss

Date

2008-10-31T16:59:34-06:00

ID

140087

Comment

Nice, annyimiss. I'm steeped in the optimism of the younger generation every single day. I believe in them, but we don't need to slap them in the face this year by voting for fear and hate. I'd hate to see them retreat into cynicism like generations before them. In some ways, that may be the biggest thing that is at stake. And if we lose hope, we will lose the American dream.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-10-31T17:31:01-06:00