I know, it sounds corny, like some sort of 1968 hippie deja vue’, but I can’t help it. I sat and listened to the announcement of Barrack Obama’s presidency and I actually felt a surge of hope. Not because the man is any greater or lesser than any other man, but because of the change we have all heard about during this long rigorous election cycle and of course all of the hoped for campaign promises that represent those changes.
I sat in my car listening to NPR in Los Angeles live and as I heard Senator John McCain’s congratulatory speech, it left me sad that candidates had to go back to past ‘separate and divide’ tactics and divide themselves from the issues that they believed deeply in to become an elect-able official and could not focus on issues in such a dynamic and rapidly changing world environment. Personality attacks, false stereo-types and fear mongering-like Rovian tactics and I just know in my heart-of-hearts that is not who the man John McCain is.
I was glad that President-elect Obama stated that clearly and presidentially for all to honor a man who had to go through the extraordinary political process of campaigning and listening to advisors that had always done it that way since the inception of the office and the evolution of the process of campaigning.
Senator Obama has redefined the landscape and held to his beliefs and demonstrated that running a positive campaign and a message of hope and humility can [and did] work, when one’s heart is in the right place and it is not covered by a duplicitous smile of hypocrisy – this is authenticity at it’s best, and I’m sure there were plenty of temptations and many times of advice to go the other way.
I have to say that the speech impacted me as anti-climatic; not because it wasn’t good, it was perfect for the occasion, but the amount of time and energy that I had spent watching, listening and inputting into the process had come to an end and there was a relief to that. I walked up to the counter at the B.H.C.C. and saw the Hispanic attendants and Asian guest services representative giddy with anticipation with what was next for our country.
They had no clue or understanding about the deeper issues of the economy or foreign affairs, they were just excited to see a fresh, young, new face that had some appearance other than the status quo that reflected change in not just appearance, but the whole way we approached our world, ran our country and treated people both here and abroad. I smiled on the inside at their emotional response as one girl explained that she had to go and sit down and cry. I understood. There is a sort of catharsis that goes along with investing in hope for change.
It is the secret knowledge that too many things had been taken wrongfully in too many circumstances for too long and that although everything would not be made right overnight, that there was at least a hope for a change, even if circumstances hampered the reality of some of those changes.
The ‘moment’ did not even last a moment. A man came through and blurted out “He better stay behind the glass for the next four years.” What do you say to such things, what can you say to such things? We all know it is there, but hope to not meet it. The ugly monster of the death of change. In attitude, in fear, in control of power, in all of the ways that people resist all forms of change.
I felt sick, and then I felt numb for a moment. I had just gotten a new iPod Nano for my birthday a few weeks ago and had finally had the time to load some songs on it. I was able to get 238 songs onto it today and was happy for the variety and selection. I knew the Forest Gump Soundtrack had a lot of variety and some good thematic music from different era’s gone by and a summation of a history of the last 30 years, so I loaded it on. As I listened to the words of the song “Get Together” by the Youngblood’s my heart grew heavy like I could have held it in my hand like a 40 pound weight. My eyes watered-over and I just sobbed. I hit the repeat button on the IPod and listened to it for the next 45 minutes over and over again. Oh, if life was just so simple….It might take years or decades still, but there is hope; not because a man named Barrack Obama became president, but because of the humble servant he is and the thoughtful response to these issues he expresses in his book “The Audacity of Hope”.
The Youngblood’s - "Get Together"
Love is but the song we sing,
And fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Know the dove is on the wing
And you need not know why
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Some will come and some will go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moments sunlight
Fading in the grass
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
If you hear the song I sing,
You must understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Right now
Right now!
YouTube - The Youngbloods - "Get Together"
Play Video
Classic put to the deep wisdom of the waves of the ocean. ... The Youngbloods - Get Together. 03:40 From: flowerpowerboxset. Views: 80,451. Loading...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ALKAaa-TU
For those of you who haven’t gotten around to reading it, or would never read a book or one about your opponent or perceived enemy, could I recommend you do it anyway? Not to increase book sales or to subscribe to any philosophy or genius, but the see, hear and feel the man for who he is; a bright, sensitive, thoughtful, wise individual who needs America’s support to get us back to who we ‘were’ first, then bring us to the next step to where we need to go.
Don’t allow media outlets and false motives of selling newspapers and television time keep ‘hating’ alive.
I had lost hope in a lot of things in the last 8 years, not all of them because of the Bush presidency. There was no blame and is no solution on blaming the past, but I continue to believe in believing, and if that is 'rhetoric', 'rock stardom', 'walking on water' or any other analogy that turns against seeing the world as we make it by our choices and decisions, not the overwhelming doom that is inevitable as the restoration process turns this massive ship around toward safe harbor, then bring back the message and video, let the music ring at every corner; “Yes – WE CAN”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn1wO6BSGzc
Barrack Obama - "Yes We Can" - Official Music Video
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