A Rare Political Post

I would like to start off by saying that I am not a political person.I have never voted in an election and have never registered.My views on politics are shrouded in apathy and cynicism.I firmly believe that any changes in my life, for better or worse, have been guided by my hand and the actions of those around me rather than by some stuffed suit who happens to hold office.I believe this will hold true for the rest of my life.

The race for the White House this year has been pretty entertaining, but still very typical.No one, be they democrat or republican, has convinced me to take them seriously.I mean it. I just drift off when I hear them speak.All I hear is "Blahblahblahblahblahrhetoricblahblahblahblahblahsoundbiteblahblahblahblahblahempty,easier-said-than-donepromiseblahblahblahblahblahanothersoundbite"Wash.Rinse.Repeat.You don't inspire me.I don't believe you.You're going to fix our problems?Really?Just like that?I call bullshit.You're trying to win a popularity contest and the highest office in the country is the grand prize.If you were just honest, I would respect you.If you stopped making every election an ugly, mud-slinging contest of "us v them", I would respect you.If you actually answer questions, and answer them honestly even if it's not the answer I want to hear, I would respect you.But you don't do any of these things.You haven't earned the privilege of bringing me into the process.

That said, last night my fiance and I were in bed watching The Daily Show.They started off by discussing the new NY governor's admissions, which I expected.I live in New Jersey, so this story is all over the news here.It's pretty much the only story around here.Then they switched to Barrack Obama's speech about his former minister and racism.I had not heard of this development because local news here is too busy throwing the local scandal in our faces.

They played clips from the minister's speech first.They were inflammatory, but I've heard worse.Shit.I've read worse on message boards written by the same people who are probably going to blow a fuse over this.You probably have too.I didn't feel outrage over anything except having another random sound bite being thrust out there in an attempt to stir the pot.SENSATIONALISM!!!!!!!BE ANGRY!!!!!!CAN YOU BELIEVE HE SAID THAT???OMFG!!!!!!!!!!THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!!THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!SOMEONE HAS NO FAITH IN THE SYSTEM?!!!HERETIC!!!!!

They then played clips from Obama's speech.It seemed reasoned enough that I wanted to hear the whole thing.This morning I woke up, went right to the computer, and found the whole speech on YouTube. Here it is in its entirety.










A couple of paragraphs up, I spoke of what I hear when I hear a politician speak.This speech contains none of that.What I heard in this speech is a genuine attempt to reach out and start a dialogue over one of our society's most uncomfortable topics:race and racism.Mr. Obama isn't making his usual "I'm going to pull gold coins out of my ass and give them to every person who makes less than $100k a year" speech.It isn't a "This guy is a loon and I'm cutting him off from life completely so he can't hurt my political career"speech.This is a "He fucked up, but maybe he brought something up that we should really talk about" speech.

Hearing the whole thing, I realize that any sound bites taken greatly lessen the impact of Obama's message.I take that message to be that the country has problems and we should address them instead of covering them up with bandages and hoping that they go away on their own.This speech was intelligent, reasonable, emotional, conversational, and genuine in a way that this country is not really used to hearing out of its politicians.We were not spoken down to and the issue was not sugar-coated.

It seems to me as if he knows that this controversy could derail his campaign for good and that honest discourse could help.Of course that's just my view.I have little faith in the public to see past the "sexier" issue of the candidate's former preacher screaming "goddamn America".I have little faith in the public's ability to see the message delivered in this excellent speech and think that they will just see Obama not completely shunning his lifelong friend for some emotional, probably poorly-thought out comments.

Like I said, I'm not political in the least.I'm no pundit.I'm not trying to start a debate.I'm just some dipshit with a blog.Obama's speech wasn't typical political posturing and it wasn't a cowardly backpedal out of controversy.The man knows what could, and probably will, go down in the media and the public eye as a result of this and chose to take the issue head on.I think it was brave and noble.I urge anyone to listen to the whole speech.It's little more than 1/2 hour.Obama has at least shown me that he's worth keeping an eye on at least.