After dinner this evening, Pete and I stopped by the Democratic headquarters to see if we could get an Obama/Biden yard sign. They were all out of the signs, but the place was buzzing with activity.
All the time we were there, a continuous flow of people walked in the door to make calls for the campaign. The energy of the place was amazing. The commitment of our fellow citizens was commendable.
We'd only stopped by to pick up a couple of items and we were there only a few minutes, but those were spent chatting with a couple of the volunteers. The second woman I met had come in to hold a writing workshop. Tonight's class was designed to teach people how to write letters to the the editors of local newspapers.
In the few minutes we talked, she told me that she wanted to volunteer her time because she liked Obama's uplifting message and world view. I guess that's what has drawn a good many of of his supporters. I can't wait till we take back our country and boldly step forward into the future.
As we walked back to our car, I felt even more hopeful. It was refreshing to spend even a little bit of time with like-minded people. My kind of people. Dare I say it? ...Liberal People. Like me.
I went out to dinner the other night with friends. The friend sitting across from me, a man who is in his early 60's, was pretty hungry. During the meal, my friend proceeded to clean his plate. I hadn't noticed because we were all engaged in conversation and I was busy eating my own dinner.
After a while, the server came over to inquire if we wished to order dessert and asked if we were ready for her to remove our plates. She looked down at my friend's plate and said to him; "You ate everything on your plate! Good Job!"
I don't know if this was meant to be praise or criticism, but I am assuming that the waitress was simply a young mother who forgot for a moment where she was and who she was talking to.... :-)
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees the neighbor hang up the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean," she said, "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs another laundry soap." The husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang out the wash, the young woman would make the same comment. About a month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, "Look! She has learned how to wash her clothes correctly. I wonder who taught her this?"
Her husband said, 'I got up early this morning and washed the windows."
And so it is with life: What we see while watching others, depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Things aren't always what they appear to be.
So, the girls are spending the night with us. They arrived this afternoon while I was out at the market. As I drove up to the house, I saw Michael’s little Prius in the driveway. That made me happy.
As I stepped into the house, I almost tripped over some shoes that the youngest had slipped off just inside the door. She is her father’s daughter after all.
I picked up the shoes and moved them to a safer spot. Since no one was in sight, I called up the stairs to let the guys know that the car needed unloading. I caught a glimpse of Gaia Girl busily engaged at my computer, and was not surprised that she did not answer.
Long before her father had reached her exalted age, he had already developed the amazing ability of 'selective hearing'; and since she is also her father’s daughter, I knew that my voice had not yet registered.
Mike and Pete came down to help, all the while deep in a discussion about politics. This is nothing new at our house. As one can see from my blog, this is an oft discussed topic here.
The discussion went on as the groceries were carried in, unpacked and put away. While concentrating on getting the groceries away, I listened with half an ear.
It was quite a while before the girls came down. They both seemed taller than they were just two weeks ago. They are at an age when the changes are happening swiftly. And even though this is a usual occurrence, I am always a bit taken aback.
After a while Gaia Girl sat down to chat. I noticed that she was wearing eyeliner. She looked much older and more mature than I had ever seen her before. She is really quite beautiful. Yet somehow it seems as though this is all happening way too fast. But, then of course, it must always seem this way to grandparents.
Not long ago, I came across a stash of old photos of my best friend and me in Junior High. In the age of Marilyn Monroe, the two of us did everything we could to appear older and more mature. The picture captured two 13 year old girls in form fitting dresses, striking a pose with chests thrust out and lips all pursed and pouty. The girls in the picture appeared much more experienced than they actually were. We were play-acting of course, but if I had been my mother, I think I would have been alarmed.
...Getting back to the original thought, after her Dad left, Gaia Girl sat down to chat. She told me that she heard that Barack Obama had recently been in Ohio. I asked if any of her other grandparents had gone to see him? She said she didn’t know about that. Then she said; "You know Nana, they aren't as interested in politics as your are."
I replied; "I guess I am pretty interested in that kind of stuff.” Gaia Girl replied; “Nana, you are not kind of interested in politics, you are VERY interested in politics! It is all over your computer.” It’s not that she wouldn’t have known this without being on my computer; but it is obvious that she has been checking out my online history again.
The last time the girls were here, Mira told me that there were inappropriate websites on my computer. I am not quite sure to what she was referring, or how she got to places that she thought were not quite proper, since there is not much stored on the desktop they were using, but I guess that the girls have ways of navigating around this new world I’ve never thought of.
Well, at least on some future date, maybe I will not be remembered as a boring and straight-laced old lady. Not that there would be anything exactly wrong with that. It would be pretty cool to be remembered as a prim and proper lady. But it might be more fun to be thought of as a fully engaged woman who talked about politics and played at the beach with seaweed.
The Rhetoric of the McCain and Palin campaigns has now gone beyond the pale. The hate filled speeches and racist innuendo of these candidates is now getting deadly dangerous.
I have watched in horror as the Republicans pepper their language with words used expressly to conger up images of Obama as someone to fear. This kind of speech is not only irresponsible; it is downright evil. And if any violence breaks out, the Dishonorable Duo of Palin and McCain should be held directly responsible.
This is why I hate the excesses of religious right. These people are so sure of their righteousness that they turn away from any sense of decency. These people are so sure of themselves that they close their minds and hearts to any reason. Are they really so blind that they cannot even contemplate what may result from their words of division?
What they say here and what they do here will not go unnoticed. When one starts down this dishonorable path of deception and defamation, they loose all credibility at the very least. But unfortunately it goes much further than that. They give birth to monsters.
During their stump speeches they continually ask the question; Who is Barack Obama? All the while hoping that some of the mud they are slinging will stick and burn. They are speaking to their base and their base is being told it is OK to slander their opponents in the name of winning.
Unfortunately it will not stop at a point of reflection and evaluation. This kind of speech only has one probable outcome, and it is to justify battle.
When people of power unleash the kind of irresponsible speech that McCain and Palin have of late, they are doing great harm. They are calling to the very worst part of our psyches.
Words have power. When you unleash this kind of hatred, you lose the power to control it. It is out there. The law of karma in inescapable. If one fuels the fire of hatred, one can be sure that it will return to burn the person who put it out there.
And by the way, I am happy to answer the question they raise. "Who exactly is Barack Obama?"
Barack Obama is an honorable American man who keeps his head when those around him are loosing theirs. He is a good man, a thoughtful man, a kind and gifted man, and he is also a loving family man. Barark Obama possesses intelligence, humility and vision. He engenders great hope and a belief that no matter how large the problems in front of us loom, we have what it takes to solve them.
We are facing great challenges in this world and we need a good man to lead the way to a better future. But as he has told us before; "We are the people that we have been waiting for". Barack is the man and the leader that is right for our country at this perilous time. So let us do our part, let us look to our better selves. Let's rise above the hatred and stand firm in our truth. We are better than this.