Obama has it

I don't want to be one of those typical bloggers who devotes 100% of the time to politics and following every move of the one I am for or against. I vote Democrat, but I honestly wasn't real excited by Gore, Kerry, or Clinton - even if I did vote for them. What I don't like about the Republican party is the alignment with the extreme born again Christians, and the notion that religion should interfere with politics to affect issues such as abortion and stem cell research. Although my brother was correct in nothing I was a fan of Ayn Rand, what drew me to her was not her commitment to pure market capitalism, but the issue of individuality and the ability to stand out in a crowd and be true to your self. I will always like that part of her philosophy, but since as she says you are either 100% for or against her, I guess I am against now because I have never been 100% for anything. I do believe there has to be an incentive for certain kinds of work. If a Walmart cashier is paid as much as a heart surgeon, the incentive is taken away - so some people inevitably need to earn more money than others. But I also think if the rich get richer and the poor get poorer to extreme- as seems to be the case now - where all the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a select few, so that people lose their houses, and don't have the coverage to see a doctor, I don't think that works either. In short there has to be a balance between capitalism - for incentive - and socialism - to regulate the inherent need for power and destructive greed - which I believe in stark contradiction to Ayn Rand's philosophy, does not necessarily result in the common good overall. People do stupid things - get greedy - cheat - rig the books - make dumb investments - pollute - and then look what is happening now on Wall Street and the world overall. On the socialist side, I don't see a great crime in taking care of the sick and dying - those who can't afford health care. I see a selfish end in the unselfish act of taking care of others - if we live in a healthy society, that helps the individuals who live in it. If the sick and dying are lining the street - as the case with very stark rich/poor distributions - such as Mexico - that is a tragedy for everyone involved. So in so many words - I think the center is better than any extreme and that sums up how I feel - in so many words about politics.
When Obama took the stage at yesterday's rally here in the Reno area, I felt the incredible energy that once drew me to see the Grateful Dead as many times as I did. The crowd was ecstatic - in my You Tube film you can see a young lady (I think) jumping up at down the way I did when I first heard "Scarlet Begonias" or "Dark Star" at a Grateful Dead concert. There was an incredible energy and Obama didn't have to say some kind of phony "my friends" because it was clear that he was connected to the crowd. It was there in his body language, his mannerism, who he was. He didn't seem to be putting on an act - he was just being himself - he was one of us but he was the one with the collective magic and gift to be the one - of us - who was doing the talking. I felt like I could - in another set of circumstances - sit down and chat with him and it would be like talking to an old friend. You feel like you know him - the same way we felt like we knew Jerry Garcia - even if you don't know him, but there is not an aura of I am better than you I see in so many politicians.
We arrived at 7:30 after all waking up at 5:00 AM, and because I had found the location of the baseball park at the University of Nevada Reno location on line, I wasn't fumbling around looking for it, and we found a somewhat convenient spot in a lot. Maybe why I am always drawn to Democrats is they seem like they are the true down to earth people, people not hung up on wealth, status, or power but more people who generally speaking are looking out for the common good. I always see more of a selfishness in Republicans - I've got mine - so fuck you - lower my taxes and you are on your own. Damn it I worked hard, so you work hard too and you maybe are lucky enough to hit the lotto like I did, if not - fuck you - not my problem. That was impression of the "Contract of America" among other things. I know - we all like to see ourselves as cowboys, and damn to hell the "free loaders" who collect from the system and take welfare or health care. Nobody likes a freeloader, but on a larger scale, sucking up a disproportionate amount of the world's resources - oil among them - and belching out a huge amount of pollution and having this mis-match contribute to worldwide poverty and hunger - aren't we on a certain collective level, all freeloaders, here in this country - at least those who can afford it? Why do I deserve good food, TV, power and electricity more than a starving man in Africa.. because I am American and that makes me entitled? That to me is hypocrisy. I take more of the Buddhist approach - and adopt the previously spoken line that when one is not free, all are not free, and when one is oppressed, all are. When people in this world are going hungry and sick, it affects all of us - because we are all one organism.
I am a realist. I don't think Obama just takes office, waves a magic wand, and makes this all go away. The economic crisis does not go away overnight. I was against the Iraq invasion from day one and I believe the economic, political, and moral repercussions will be devastating for decades to come. This "war on terror" which I see more as world class warfare than a war on ideology, can only really be solved when billions are not living in hunger and poverty - and I don't see how one man can really change the destructive consumption and waste built into our collective American consciousness, because this has been centuries in the making.
Even so - when I see Obama speak, and possibly even risk his life in his run for president as the first African American doing this, I see the courage of Martin Luther King who also knew his own life was in danger by doing what he believed in. I don't see a phony George Bush, who wrapped himself in his born again Christian righteousness, and then paid back all the companies who put him in office with his favoritism of the wealthy, and business as usual corruption that ended up with one of the worst policy invasions of all time, the invasion of Iraq. Bush didn't really seem to care about anybody but those who took care of him. In Obama I see somebody who wants to change the country for the better because he does care - and I see sincerity and a sense of reality in him that I don't see in many politicians.
At his speech I saw a real presence in him. He made us laugh - he was funny - but at the same time he looked like a leader, someone who genuinely wants to steer the country back not to payoff the rich elite as Bush did, but someone who really wants the best for all of us. I know every point of mine can be debated by Republican and religious conservatives. I know some feel as passionate about McCain and Palin (who drew about 1/3 of the same crowd numbers when she came here a few days earlier) and who am I to say who is right or wrong. I tend to see Republicans as a combination of ignorant and selfish, but I don't hold it against them. They want what is right just like I do, I just don't agree with how they make it happen.
In short, I left the rally buzzing - feeling like I had witnessed history, feeling like I had seen a man with a real presence to him, and I went back and watched my little home made video of him, where on You Tube his physical size is not much bigger than a thumbtack due to my cheap camera, but even watching that I picked up on the energy and excitement of the crowd, and the power of his movement and body language even from a far. I was close enough to actually see him better than my footage came out, and though he has hit the trail and moved on - I still feel like he is here and I still feel a connection. God help us if he loses, but if he wins I am going to feel a real sense of joy and optimism that I haven't felt in years. No - he is no miracle worker - one person can't do it alone - but if there is anybody who can steer us out of the mess we are in, I truly believe he is the guy.