Quiet No Longer

Five years and two days ago our president stood on an aircraft carrier just outside of San Diego Harbor beneath a banner that read, "Mission Accomplished." pronouncing that combat operations in Iraq had come to an end. It will be 20, 30, maybe 40 years before the world learns the truth behind the "war" in Iraq, but John McCain offered an interesting reason for the invasion. He was discussing oil and told a Denver crowd that never again would our soldiers be sent to the Middle East on behalf of oil (I'm paraphrasing and don't remember the exact quote). That's right, never AGAIN. So has it happened before?

John McCain has virtually no chance of winning the election in November. He has done too well at aligning himself with the train wreck that is George W. Bush. As much as our nation's conservative base loathes Democrats and everything they don't stand for, they will not vote for McCain in great numbers. In fact, most of them will stay home in November seeing no candidate as theirs.

This leaves us two options for president, both Democrats. Sometimes I think I could be a Democrat. I could join the ranks of the Pro-Life Democrats and have a real party identity. But usually when I start thinking that, I catch a glimpse of the democratic party in action. If they were a corporation they'd have gone under long ago. It's a circular firing squad everytime they get together. They would be unbeatable if they were half as organized and disciplined as the GOP.

Senator Obama is leading the race by every measure. Instead of rallying behind him, Senator Clinton is doing everything in her power to undermine his candidacy and win by a technicality. She honestly thinks that elected officials will turn up their noses at the American democratic electorate, tell them they got it wrong, and put her underneath the raining confetti and balloons at the Convention. If this were the Republicans I'd say, "Not a chance!" But let's face it, we're talking about the Democratic Party here and they just could be that stupid. At least that's what Senator Clinton is banking on.

This completely unrealistic outcome is only made possible by the color of Senator Obama's skin. That's right, America is racist. This son of a Kenyan man and white woman is just too different for our Baby Boomers who still control the ballot box. America is racist. It is so racist it has learned to recognize it, hide it, and take offense whenever anyone points it out. Democrats have counted on African American voters for years, but now one of them wants to lead? Too much. Let's pick the white lady. Geraldine Ferraro is so racist, she implied that Senator Obama is leading the race for President of the United States because he is black. To boot, she took massive offense that anyone would dare label her or her statement as racist. Wow! Do you think Senator Obama was ushered to the front of the Starbucks line as soon as the crowd noticed his skin was darker then theirs? Perhaps his Harvard professors spotted him, and everyone else of color, 10 extra credit points on all his papers. Maybe. Or maybe it's because he's a hard working educated articulate leader speaking a message of hope and change to a nation badly in need of hope and change. As Senator Obama himself admits. An African American running for president is a stretch for many. Some still see America as they would have prefered it remained, much as it was down on the farm.

We are no longer on the farm as a nation. Just a few generations ago America's children left those farms and spread their wings. They went to college, traveled and opened doors to places they didn't know existed. They gave themselves options and pursued paths that led this nation to an economic prosperity it had never known before. But in leaving the farm, they brought their children together. The old boundaries weren't as clearly marked and their children played together, went to school together, fell in love with each other, married, and gave birth to a new America. Indeed, they gave birth to a new American.

I attended a wedding a few years back where an Asian mother stood up and very honestly told the party they had always hoped their daughters would marry men who looked like them and spoke like them. But that's not what their daughter chose and she opened her arms to welcome the white man into their family. My own family's story is not so different.

You see, America can accept Senator Obama now, or they can accept him later. But we must realize that he is not going anywhere. He is that new American.

President Bush will go down in history as one of the worst and most destructive presidents ever. That much is clear. Who ever the new president is will have very little chance to implement their agenda and ideas in their first term. It will take at least one full presidential term to bring an end to the war in Iraq and put our country on a new path. Both candidates say that's just what they'll do. It's a matter of who we believe. Don't think either President will accomplish much the first four years besides cleaning up the enormous blotch left by President Bush? They will need their second term to make their own mark. Upon who do we bestow eight years of power?

The Bush and Clinton families have laid the foundation my family lives on. Have you ever wondered why Senator Clinton has no support among young voters? We're too young remember the glory days of the Clinton White House when Bill was claiming credit for the .com boom and running a stellar intern program. We don't sit around fondly reminising about Bill's parting action handing out pardons to his criminal buddies like they were raffle tickets. We certainly don't admire the fact that he has turned his 8 years of service into a groundwork for wealth and fortune. What we do discuss, what we absolutely cannot avoid, is the dismal state of our nation and the shaky future currently offered to our children. So do the Clinton's get 8 more years? Did our founding fathers wish us to grant leadership of our nation to two families for 28 years? Make no mistake about it, we know what we get with the Clintons. That's comforting to some. Senator Clinton has made it clear that Bill will serve as a major advisor. They have a track record and a proven path. Jump on the path and see where it leads. I've done that and found myself in front of this computer staying quiet no longer. I do not wish for my children what Bill Clinton has done for me.

What if there was another way? A new way down a new path to a different place. And what if the maker of that path was the son of a Kenyan man and a white woman? A man of color. An American.

Could you follow him? Can you follow us?