Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Day of Days

My observations about our 44th President. More to come I suppose.

1. I am happy that Barack Obama has not been assassinated. I pray he dies an old man many many years from now and gets to see his lovely daughters have children of their own. Like every man, he deserves it. I'd say he deserves it more than me because of the risk he is taking for the common good. I look at our greatest presidents, the brave ones, the barrier breakers, the ones who really made positive change in our nation. That same energy draws evil to it and they are far too often shot at and often hit. Obama is SO positive for this nation, for the world in fact, that I am scared SH!tless for his safety. With the nation and the world in the shape it is in right now, if he is killed, I fear the worst for not just America, but for the human race. THE HUMAN RACE. I'd take a bullet for the man. I have never said that about someone I don't know personally.
2. I watched NBC. In this day and age, the ALL the technology, what a crappy job they did. Lack of sound feeds, poor editing. For a network that did so much to help Obama (subtle ways mind you, but I feel they did). MAN what a crap job of bringing us the day.
3. Obama's Speech... well, what can I say, the bar was set so very high...
Out of any other president in my life time I would have said "oh hells yeah". I think the victory speech on election night was much better.
I really would have liked for him to say. Fine, I am a black man. Whatever, I am just the right guy at the right time. This should have happened long ago because slavery should not have happened etc etc etc. Great, whatever... you know what, good for America for making this change and thanks to all African Americans who had to suffer and beat on that glass ceiling (that honestly looks like an Arctic ice shelf with a few holes poked here and there... and i mean like, every few miles here and there) over and over to make this even possible. That aspect needs to keep improving. Then I really wanted him to Really get impassioned and hammer home the green revolution of making new jobs that ultimately get us off oil. And I wanted him to say this more definitively all the other things that got him elected. And I wanted him MOST of all, to tell the American Public that they are lazy and we have to really kick in gear and fix this. We must be accountable for everything we do, each person should strive to do better. With the lines about responsibility, he did it... but in a vague and flowery way. He could have pressed the issue harder. He is an icon, he has emotional capital to spend. I wanted to see him become a peaceful warrior, a drill Sargent of sorts for the boot camp of the American public. Obama more than any other president in my memory would get the response of "SIR YES SIR!" to demands made of it. 300 million people doing a little better each day is a huge thing. It could be personal health, it could be driving less, anything... But when Obama sat back down I didn't feel a call to arms to do much different than I do now. And sure, my goals are aligned with his... But I wanted this speech to drive it home somehow. Because if he really made me think again with his speech then I would know that he might have also really swayed republicans with his speech.
Well, maybe our 44th is taking a page out of the 26th's play book... today he walked softly. And upon hearing the words a few more times. Perhaps I must say, Obama is not soft... rather he is a professional political boxer. He has not tried to deliver any knock out blows too early in his opening rounds. But he did land scoring punches in every place that he needed to without opening himself up to a counter punch of any significance... well played sir, well played.
Now as for the senate and house that needs to fall in line with Obama's views... the battle of attrition has already begun. Cheney is in a wheel chair (funny and appropriate) not that I wish ill health on people but I really have nothing nice to say about the man apart from personal matters. And in Obama's corner, Byrd and Teddy Kennedy BOTH could not make it through lunch, LUNCH. Ok. I have no doubt what so ever that both Teddy and Rob have nothing but love for their country and support for our new president. But, you know what, the country needs men and women of youth and vigor to deal with the nations challenges. Hell, my kid is 11 and she is doing things on an I touch that I have no clue about. And I am 32. The men in power.... yes, years and years of experience... but the world... I feel it is changing at a rate never before seen. Lets look back... combustion engine. 100+ years ago now it is possible to sail England to the US in a few weeks, MUCH faster than wind. Then we build rail ways. Things across the nation in a week or so. Lets invent the telephone also 100+ years ago. A message around the world from one person to another in less than a minute. However, getting that message to more than that one person could take some time. Now, entire videos with audio, things that happened minutes ago. can be transmitted anywhere in the world without bias or editing, instantly, but this time around... TO EVERYONE ( now this is truly about 2 years old..). Now the question is not who sends the message, BUT can we trust the message sent? At any rate. within the next ten years anything will be seen live anywhere in the world by anyone if it is deemed relevant. In fact I propose that in a decade a group called the department of relevancy will be more important than any national security unit of government. At any rate, I love change, I love this nation. The future is scary exciting challenging and amazing. And I wonder if I will ever feel so Alive ever again. This could be our time. Our grand fathers fought world war two with new bullets, tanks, planes and Atom Bombs. Perhaps we fight a war of truth this time... there are no regiments, there are no artillery shells. We might fight this war from from comfort of our living rooms. Our weapons are a key board and a connection to a global interface none could have imagined 50 years ago. And so it goes. We bunker down in our living rooms and make claims. Then we kiss our children and loved ones emerging from our bunkers to fight... But in this war, death is not apparent. You can get yourself AND your family killed and not find out until years later. You can go home every day and hug your family, but every next day you had better be ready to fight. Welcome to the global economy and all the trappings that come with it.
Namaste.

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