Last night, I read something very disturbing here. I read that McCain was about to drop a bomb, a game changer that was going to sink the Obama campaign. I read that there was going to be a major announcement that would turn this election around. It actually kept me awake, going back and forth to all the news sites that matter, and seeing what it was.
This morning finds nothing. No news. Obama's still ahead, and the news keeps getting worse for McCain. Then I thought about how sad it is that I fully expected this bad news to occur. I was sure that Obama had sex with someone he wasn't supposed to. Perhaps he secretly stashed away millions in some corrupt scheme too big for me to comprehend. I really don't know what I expected, but the tragedy is in that I expected the worst. I think most people who commented on the diary also did.
This brings me to Obama's message of Hope. Over the last 8 years, we thinking, feeling Americans have been so beaten down. We have seen, if not a full assault, than an erosion of every thing that we once thought America stood for. Justice has been replaced by jingoism, security by fear, and unity by distrust. We have grown used to these cynical voices of the MSM, so much so that even when we know it's garbage, we carry the stink with us throughout our daily lives, and: We've lost our ability to believe.
I have to admit, Senator Obama was not my first choice. I have always been a huge Kucinich supporter, but after having spent the last months with him, I come to realize that this is absolutely Senator Obama's time. It's been a long time since I've heard someone speak that can bring me to the brink of tears, and not from the pain of hearing the English Language massacred. It's been a long time since I felt that someone up at the top felt anything for what America is really going through. It's been a long time since I've used the word "inspiring" when talking about a politician. Senator Obama is that person.
So, while I don't agree with him on gay marriage rights, and his health care proposals seem a little short of my ideals, and, and, and... I can think of no other person at this time more suitable to take over at the helm of this nation and lead it out of these turbulent waters. His ascension to the White House will be the nail that all of America can hang their hopes on, and will change our collective voices from "NO! THEY DIDN'T!!" to "YES! WE CAN!!"
Today, is Yom Kippur, and while I am Jewish by birth, I am most skeptical of religion. Still, on this day, I fast. I do so out of a sense of tradition, and because I believe in introspection and cleansing. So I am using this day to purge myself of this cynicism beaten into me over the last eight years. Hope is still alive.