January 28, 2008
A beautiful day in the neighborhood
During the course of this blog's 5+ years of history, I have generally avoided political talk as it just leads to childlike exchanges of "no, you're a doo-doo head!"
In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a bleeding heart liberal. However, I've managed to keep most of my conservative friends, because I don't believe that shouting louder than those you disagree with and closing your ears to their ideas makes you a winner. (It's a two-way street, of course, and those conservatives who are still friends believe the same thing.)
I think I've found a candidate for President who feels the same way.
I'm not entirely naive. I know that there is a difference between rhetoric and action. But at this point, I'm willing to take Senator Obama's words at face value and have a little bit of hope for the future.
I don't usually watch campaign or acceptance speeches, but in Obama's case, I dropped what I was doing and rushed to the TV to hear this:
This weekend Caroline Kennedy said:
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
And I hope that I will be forgiven for lifting John Hodgman's entire post for the day:
I REMEMBER once being asked for advice on parenting. Deciding to be sincere about it for once, I simply said: JUST WATCH MR. ROGERS. I could tell you what I think on the subject, or what I've learned from my own experience, but why bother?: EVERYTHING FRED ROGERS KNOWS AND SAYS ABOUT CHILDREN IS CORRECT, and I realize this astonishing fact again, every day.
SO I SAY: just watch.
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
That is all.
You and me both.
I'm starting to lean that way. I don't believe our primary is any time soon, so I have a while yet to stew on it.
you're a doo-doo head! but I agree with you. Does that make me a doo-doo head too?
But he's Canadian.
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