Cross-posted from Docudharma
I've been struggling with my feelings about the Democratic Convention.
But I've decided to stop struggling.
There will be always a contradiction between my heart and my head when it comes to politics.
Over at the Kenneth Cole Awearness Blog, there's a post by Liza Sabater, founder of culturekitchen and The Daily Gotham.
She spoke of Ted Kennedy's speech and the reaction in the "Big Tent" of the bloggers who watched it:
Even though we weren't inside the convention center, the fun thing about watching an event like this with other bloggers is in the unfiltered comments you get for every single moment of the broadcast as it is happening. So when we were watching the tribute to Senator Kennedy ("Uncle Teddy" to us bloggers), Michael comes to me and says, "that's not a tribute, that's an eulogy." I was shocked to hear that but it made me pay attention to what was happening in the room. Around us, there were more than a few fellow bloggers wiping tears from their eyes.Yet out came the Senator from Massachussets to give one of the most rousing speeches I've heard him give in years. It was amazing to see him with so much energy, so much enthusiasm. It was truly touching and inspiring and the perfect lead into presenting Michelle Obama.
And she spoke of Michelle Obama's speech, zeroing in on the end, where the two little girls spoke to their father over the microphone, and this observation struck me:
And that's where the power of a media moment enters this narrative.
When you have a roomful of hardened bloggers wiping away tears and oohing and aahing at the sight of what was basically a family talking to each other over a video link, you know something bigger is happening on that screen. It's not about politics. It's not about elections. It's about creating a completely different narrative of what we want to see daily on those tv and computer screens.
I am no fan of Obama's positions on a whole host of issues. I'm a sad member of the Democratic base, after all. So when I started getting choked up I was also angry with myself. "Fool!" I said to myself, "are you going to get all sucked into this Hallmark moment and forget that this entire scene is politics, pure and simple?"
Well it didn't do any good. I still got choked up hearing Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama. And seeing Kucinich's speech (h/t rjones2818) got me all worked up as well.
And it was about what Liza said ... the notion of seeing actual human talk after so many years of flat out lies and the media puppetry of this misAdministration, the coarsening of our public discourse having worn me down more than I realized.
So I'm not going to struggle against my emotions any more.
Last night mishima wrote "Narratives Change," which I think speaks to this issue as well.
Is it a big deal? Will seeing even semi-intelligent talk on our television screens stop Bush's gang of thugs, hold them accountable, stop the war, save our environment, defeat the forces of evil that are the military-corporate-industrial-media-complex?
No, of course it won't. Not even almost.
But there is such a thing as morale, from a household to a community to a city to a nation. We see it in our workplaces and where we choose to gather. In my own life, especially in the workplace, I've seen high or low morale make the difference between a job getting done well and a job getting done poorly or not at all.
The morale of our country has sunk so low it has to look up to see the gutter.
Even if Obama wins the Presidency, we all know we're still going to have the fight of our life on our hands. We will have to oppose him on so many things, and many good bloggers have enumerated those issues with great clarity.
So I can feel emotional, and rightfully so, when I hear real human speech instead of faux propaganda. I can keep my head and still feel my heart.
It's a strange experience. But it doesn't feel contradictory to me any more. I know I will have to hold the line between irrational hope and equally irrational cynicism. But I can't stop my heart from feeling while I hold that line.