Last of Our Kind

There is a school of thought, or perhaps a political philosophy that says things in this country will never change. This theory says that we will always have two ruling parties that will always be at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Our elected officials will never work together to reach common human, universal goals because these two parties represent two very different ways of living. This theory also loves to mention the fact that politicians will always be crooked because they have power, and with power comes corruption. They would say that is part of the job.

With that in mind let’s state the obvious:

Senator Barack Obama is going to win this election.

The polls are clearly leaning in his favor. The issues are on his side. There has been a bad Republican President for the last eight years. John McCain has given in to using Swift Boat attacks, a sure sign of desperation. All signs point to yes for Obama.

Now, come November 4th Obama may lose, and believe me if it happens, at that moment I will surely eat some crow. In fact, I’ll be eating crow for a while if some how John McCain reaches into ANWR and drills a victory from a bridge to nowhere.

But this is about Senator Obama winning. So let’s look thirty days in the future and say that he won…

Now, I know that Senator Obama is not perfect. I know that he will not lead this nation to the Promised Land. I know that Senator Obama is a politician. I know that he has to play the game because that’s what a President does. I know that he may not be all the change he has promised to be. Believe it or not I am not so naive as to think any different.

But why not?

The problems don’t lie with Senator Obama. The problems lie with us and our inability to want to change. The inability to leave the status quo we have all grown used to, because it is all we have known, it is all we have been.

The problem lies with the fact that we have a person who wants to do something about the way our system works (or doesn’t work I should say). Senator Obama understands that our government has become so partisan and so poisoned (on both sides) that no progress can ever get done.

There are issues that will divide us. As long as day exists there will be night. This is how politics seems to work. But why can’t we as a nation come together on common ground and move toward a better society? Why is it that we are so content with the way things are?

If Senator Obama is the “Change We Can Believe In,” why do I feel like no one truly believes?

Can we believe in change?

Perhaps my feelings that we are unwilling to change has to do with the fact that when Senator Obama wins there will still be those people who stand up and say, “Our President is a Muslim!” and, “Our President is a nigger!” That all of course has to do with the huge underlying racism that is still very mush alive and well in this country.

But my true feelings believe that if there was another leader representing everything Obama embodies, in another time or place that happened to be white, there would be people who would find every little flaw they could just to bring him down. He would have an old essay that upset too many people, or he would have connections to the wrong people, or he would have an old arrest for streaking, or if this man, this candidate who represented so much change had nothing that the establishment could dig up, they would shoot him dead.

This is what we must change. Not about our leaders, but about ourselves.

It is the fear of change that upsets so many. It is the powerful afraid of becoming powerless because the game in Washington will no longer be played the same way. The fear of change is terrifying because no one really knows what change means. What does a step away from “safe” actually look like? How will this affect me? How will this affect my children?

It seems cliché, but I have to insert a quote from my favorite leader that never was. Robert F. Kennedy was a leader who represented all that Obama is and probably more. He once wisely said:

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

As I said before, Senator Obama will not be the change he wants because America is not ready, not yet. However, he will be a step in the right direction. That is if we are ready to put one foot in front of the other and take the plunge.

So I ask again:

Can we believe in change?

Can we believe in taking the right steps toward progress?

Can we change the game? Or is this game rigged from the start and can never truly be won?

Please America, you tell me…

Never afraid to ask questions, waiting for answers,

LoOK