(no subject)
Mar. 19th, 2008 01:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psychickTwo posts in one day? Madness. Well technically it's tomorrow, but I scoff at your puny Earth time.
I just wanted to note that I will be voting for this man.
I got an email, from one of my uncles this time, with MANY ALLCAPS EXCLAMATIONS about how Obama has said he's going to undermine national security and not invest in killer satellites the like. I'd c/p it, but it was long and God forgive me I sincerely did not have the wherewithal to read another reactionary, paranoid, 'the brown people are out to git us' doggerel manifesto, so I'll use it as a starting point rather than argue it point-by-point.
America is already the strongest, most secure, and most wealthy country on the damn planet and it has not saved us from terrorist attacks. Wars are no longer fought with armies or treaties or nuclear missiles. Wars are fought with guerilla tactics that are almost impossible to anticipate. Our soldiers and our nukes and our money have not defended our morality. They have led the country to confuse the trappings of strength with the wisdom to use it only when necessary and only when effective. The two world wars that our grandfathers participated in with pride and a grim sense of duty were not started by us and were not perpetuated by us. They were ended by us, when it became clear that our help was sincerely needed. No war since then has seen such unilateral efficacy of American power, and no war since then has seen such restraint on our part. More weapons is not what this country needs to become a smaller target or a more effective power.
America could not be more safe, except that our people still starve, our children still receive lacking education, we cannot care for our elderly and a huge percentage of us simply cannot afford to get sick. Most Americans are not killed by terrorists. They are not killed by foreign armies. They are not killed by bombs. They are killed by diseases and by other Americans.
Thus far, of all the candidates, Barack Obama has spoken out not the loudest or the sharpest, but with calm and clarity for unity, patience and healing. We are accused across the globe of hypocrisy in our expectations of the behavior of other countries and our professed belief in freedom and equality, and in too many cases these claims are completely valid. At some point we not only lost our humility, but our understanding the value of humility.
Do I think Obama will somehow solve the many problems that America faces? No. Do I think he will universally unite all the many people who live here? No. But I do think that it is time for us as a nation to take a step back and start fixing problems instead of simply pointing or seeking them out, to start listening as well as telling, and start taking care of ourselves so that we can better do our part to take care of the entire world. And I think that Obama, of all the candidates, best understands this and has the patience, clarity and charisma to oversee this process.
And now, bed.
I just wanted to note that I will be voting for this man.
I got an email, from one of my uncles this time, with MANY ALLCAPS EXCLAMATIONS about how Obama has said he's going to undermine national security and not invest in killer satellites the like. I'd c/p it, but it was long and God forgive me I sincerely did not have the wherewithal to read another reactionary, paranoid, 'the brown people are out to git us' doggerel manifesto, so I'll use it as a starting point rather than argue it point-by-point.
America is already the strongest, most secure, and most wealthy country on the damn planet and it has not saved us from terrorist attacks. Wars are no longer fought with armies or treaties or nuclear missiles. Wars are fought with guerilla tactics that are almost impossible to anticipate. Our soldiers and our nukes and our money have not defended our morality. They have led the country to confuse the trappings of strength with the wisdom to use it only when necessary and only when effective. The two world wars that our grandfathers participated in with pride and a grim sense of duty were not started by us and were not perpetuated by us. They were ended by us, when it became clear that our help was sincerely needed. No war since then has seen such unilateral efficacy of American power, and no war since then has seen such restraint on our part. More weapons is not what this country needs to become a smaller target or a more effective power.
America could not be more safe, except that our people still starve, our children still receive lacking education, we cannot care for our elderly and a huge percentage of us simply cannot afford to get sick. Most Americans are not killed by terrorists. They are not killed by foreign armies. They are not killed by bombs. They are killed by diseases and by other Americans.
Thus far, of all the candidates, Barack Obama has spoken out not the loudest or the sharpest, but with calm and clarity for unity, patience and healing. We are accused across the globe of hypocrisy in our expectations of the behavior of other countries and our professed belief in freedom and equality, and in too many cases these claims are completely valid. At some point we not only lost our humility, but our understanding the value of humility.
Do I think Obama will somehow solve the many problems that America faces? No. Do I think he will universally unite all the many people who live here? No. But I do think that it is time for us as a nation to take a step back and start fixing problems instead of simply pointing or seeking them out, to start listening as well as telling, and start taking care of ourselves so that we can better do our part to take care of the entire world. And I think that Obama, of all the candidates, best understands this and has the patience, clarity and charisma to oversee this process.
And now, bed.
