“This land is your land, this land is my land...” That’s the song we sang as children. An excerpt:
This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California, to the New York Island,
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.
I thought it was true. Apparently, I, and millions of other people who were born and raised in this country, were wrong. It’s only true for pockets of this country – where ‘real’ Americans live. If someone wouldn’t mind sending me a redrawn map, I’d appreciate it much. I just don’t know where I fit in anymore...
I am a single mom raising a 15 year old boy young man. He’s a great kid young man. He’s intellectual and curious. He’s observant. And he’s pissed off. It pains me to have to try and explain away Sarah Palin’s “real America” comments, now echoed by other party members, and McCain’s exceedingly divisive rhetoric. “Mom, why do they keep trying to divide us? Don’t they know that people are sick of that crap? Why does he have to talk like such an asshole. God, I hope Obama wins. He’ll put an end to this crap.”
Hey, watch your mouth. But yeah, you’re right. He and I talk about the problems facing this country (after discussions of girls, iPods, new music, homework, his hair (argh) and marching band), and how true leadership means having the ability and desire to bring two sides together on an issue, sort of like a mediator does before litigating parties go to trial. It’s not easy, and you have to have parties who are willing to at least listen to the other’s point of view.
He sees the intolerance. He watches the news reports about car tires being slashed outside an Obama rally (see Lollydee's diary link). He listens to the vitriol spewed at McCain / Palin rallies ... ‘terrorist’ and ‘kill him’ and worse. And he has watched me argue politics without ever getting personal or nasty (although I’ve once or twice been sorely tempted). He is having political discussions in some of his classes, and I mean real discussions – about issues, why this one supports Obama and the other one supports McCain. They are being encouraged to express their views, to understand the issues, and to debate each other without descending into hate filled disagreements.
And he is very inspired by Barack Obama. He wants to vote. NOW. I didn’t vote for the first time, I’m ashamed to say, until I was 30 (Clinton). He’ll vote as soon as he’s legal and there’s an election.
I read the Time article today (Link )and will have him read it later. If Barack Obama and General Patraeus can have a spirited discussion in a respectful way:
A "spirited" conversation ensued, one person who was in the room told me. "It wasn't a perfunctory recitation of talking points. They were arguing their respective positions, in a respectful way." The other two Senators — Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed — told Petraeus they agreed with Obama. According to both Obama and Petraeus, the meeting — which lasted twice as long as the usual congressional briefing — ended agreeably.
why can’t a Senator, after 26 years of service to the senate, and a 5 ½ year (enormous) personal sacrifice for his country, do the same? How can this same man stand on a stage during a debate with his opponent and not even look at him? Why does he continue to discuss things that simply do not matter to the American voter? Why is he allowing, if not being compelled to allow, his campaign, and his character, to become what appeals to the lowest common denominator in our society? Why must McCain (and Palin) make this about us and them? Do they not understand or, for that matter, care about the racial division this country still deals with and is trying desperately to overcome? Do they not understand that they are speaking to millions of our future generation? Is it THAT important to win an election? To do so by sacrificing your soul?
It is beyond shameful. And it is incredibly disheartening to watch the McCain of 2008, because I really did like the McCain of 2000. I would still have voted for Gore, but the McCain of 2000, had he won his party’s nomination, would have made that a more difficult choice.
In the last 8 years, my patriotism has been attacked. My religious beliefs have been attacked. My intelligence has been attacked. My womanhood has been attacked. My belief in my Constitutional rights has been attacked. My love of country has been attacked. In fact, everything that I believe in and stand for has been attacked. Simply because I don’t agree with “them.”
The ‘them’ that proclaims moral superiority, religious righteousness, superior patriotism, and superior intellect. The ‘them’ that walks out of church on a Sunday, goes to a rally, and proceeds to yell “kill him.” The ‘them’ that slashes 30 car tires outside an Obama rally. The ‘them’ that drives around stealing or defacing Obama yard signs. The ‘them’ who tell me if I don’t like it here, I should go live in some other country, or that I can do something to myself that I’d rather not do. The ‘them’ who think it’s acceptable to call out an entire religious sect because a few of their radical members attacked our country. The ‘them’ who want to save babies from abortion but who find absolutely nothing wrong with sacrificing our brothers and sisters in a war under the premise of defending freedom, not because we’re attacking a country that attacked us first. The ‘them’ who still does business with states that actively and openly support terrorism because they have something we need. The ‘them’ who turns its back on Darfur and The Congo because they don’t have something we need, and who don’t consider those human atrocities ones we should intervene on. The ‘them’ who still believe that America is a “white Christian” nation, even though the Founding Fathers were very careful to separate Church from State, and to write a preamble that specifically uses words like “created equal” and “inalienable rights.” The ‘them’ who still believe that it’s okay to be racist, and to hate a man because his skin is a different color, or because he holds a different religious belief. And the ‘them’ who believes it’s okay to run a national campaign for the most powerful position in the free world by portraying the worst character flaws of our nation.
John McCain and Sarah Palin remind the rest of the world exactly that which is wrong with our nation. That we are petty, racially divided, self-righteous, unyielding, unwilling to listen, whiners, blamers, selfish.
And it is also precisely why the American public has so embraced Barack Obama (and Joe Biden – don’t mean to leave out Joe the Senator).
I AM AN AMERICAN! I was born and raised here – IN AMERICA. I was educated here. I work here. I pay my taxes here. I play here. I raise my son here. I own my home here. I volunteer here. I give to charity here. I (used to) go to church/temple here. I chose life here. I still put my hand over my heart when I say the Pledge of Allegiance. And I still believe, even with all her flaws, that this is the greatest country on earth. Here – OUR AMERICA. All of it. Even the parts of it that disagree with me. Every single corner, from California to the New York Islands, from the Redwood Forest to the gulf stream waters...
I have great faith in Barack Obama. I don’t believe he will solve all our problems, but he will put us on the road to recovery. If anyone can bring out the best of what it is to be an American, to remind us what it means to believe in the tenets of the Constitution, and to give us hope that tomorrow always holds the promise of a better day, it is Barack Obama. Because it is, simply, about US.
Because this land IS our land, and because we are all Americans, no matter what.
P.S. Prayers please for Barack's grandmother...