Readers of this blog (love ya!) know that I'm a political junkie, and seem to be raising my kids to be the same (much to DHs surprise!). And I've posted at length about my crush on Barack Obama (LOL!)......seriously, the fact that I am an Obama supporter and have been following the political campaigns incessantly. I have had so much hope, but I feel it draining out on a daily basis.
This morning, I'm at an all-time low where this topic is concerned. I've been proud to be able to speak up for Obama, wear my campaign shirt, argue in a passionate and informed way when I encounter opposition, etc. But the downward slide started when this stupid crap started up about his former pastor a few weeks ago. Soundbite after soundbite flooded the airwaves, and I'd be lying if I said they weren't shocking and distressing, even to me. On Sirius radio one evening, I managed to find a talk show playing the FULL recording of one of those sermons from which the horrid soundbites came. The sermon lasted more than 30 minutes, and was so very enlightening. When you hear those quotes in context, they are not nearly as inflammatory as they were when heard alone. Still bad, mind you, but hearing those statements at the end of 30 minutes of historical context makes them sound quite different. If you want to hear it for yourself, I found it here .
Anyway, there was a big uproar for a week or so about why Obama stayed in this church, did he endorse the inflammatory statements, etc.........and then it started to blow over, thankfully. It was painful to watch, and I began to feel less and less confident in speaking up in support of him. It is hard to rationalize why he stayed there, how he could not have known these things were said, etc.
Well, over the weekend the illustrious Rev. Wright popped up again, and now he's freakin everywhere! Speech after speech, appearance after appearance, trying to clear his name and clarify things, but what I want him to do is just SHUT UP!!!!!!!!! This is not about you! Do you have any desire whatsoever to see Obama elected? Then get the %#@* out of the way and keep your mouth closed, at least until December or so. But no, he has to keep on talking, keep on digging that hole deeper and deeper, and pushing our goal a bit further away every time.
I hung all of my hopes on this, and it's just so disappointing to see it collapsing before our eyes. I want so much to believe the rhetoric about "a different kind of politics" and the efforts for change that he's promoting, but it will all be for naught if he can't get elected. And if this polarizing ancillary "stuff" keeps pulling him down, that's exactly what's going to happen. Maybe things aren't as bad as I see them, but it literally hurts my heart to listen to my regular morning TV talking heads, and the political radio stuff that I usually follow. It seems to be all negative, and none of it has to do with what he actually wants to do for the country.
After all, it's so much more important to parse every freakin statement out of someone's mouth (someone who is NOT the candidate, btw) rather than focus on 4000 dead in Iraq, $4 gas, and my 401K plan in the toilet. Yep, it's good to have priorities.
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