The Lion in Winter

photo by Nancy Lane

“For me this is season of hope, of new hope . . . This is the cause of my life, that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American will have decent health care, not as a privilege but as a right.

“We can meet these challenges with Barack Obama. Yes, we can and finally yes we will. This November, the torch with be passed again to a new generation of Americans.”

My daughter and I watched first Senator Ted Kennedy's inspiring speech, and then Michelle Obama's equally inspiring speech. I wept openly as I listened to Kennedy speak from the heart, focusing on those things I grew up believing in: from his late brother's Inaugural Address, when newly-elected John Fitzgerald Kennedy said "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," I have believed that we have a patriotic duty to heal the rifts brought on by fear.

Kennedy spoke to that fear, and to that call to action.

And then Michelle Obama got up there and talked about walking away from her great job in a big Chicago law firm to do just that - to work out in the community to heal the rifts brought on by fear. She talked openly about how we are all connected - something I believe as well. We are all connected, no matter our race, no matter our choice of faith or not, we are connected be we straight, gay, or bi-; we are connected whether we live in the United States, or in Iraq, or in Korea. And my daughter, a single mom with a 3-year-old, wept openly while Michelle Obama spoke from the heart.

She spoke to that fear, and to that call to action as well.

You may not love Obama. But if you line up the issues, and call yourself a Liberal, or a Progressive, or a Democrat, you cannot support John McCain. John McCain will not support a health care program for all Americans. John McCain will not find a way to end this mistake of a war in Iraq. John McCain will not help people get to work, nor will he search for alternative energy resources. John McCain will continue the politics of fear that the current administration has played for the last eight years. So, if you are a Liberal, a Progressive, a Democrat, and you may not love Obama, please dig deep before you cast your vote in November. It is a choice between the politics of fear, or the politics of hope, and while the candidate may not be perfect, he is a far cry better than what the Republicans offer.

Obama has a plan

Obama has a plan for Iraq, which I read this morning. He begins by saying

The call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States.

The term "phased redeployment" is, for me, troublesome, but I think I understand his logic. He talks about needing to protect our troops during the withdrawal, and he talks about a plan that would being the moment he takes office, a 16-month withdrawal that would have all US troops out of Iraq by summer, 2010.

Summer, 2010. More than seven years since the war began. Seven years, more than $1 Trillion wasted, too many deaths, too many wounded, and our nation at home in financial crisis. I'm torn by Obama's plan. Part of me says "Not soon enough!" and part of me realizes that what he proposes is a realistic plan to get us out of this horrific morass that Bush created.

A few days ago, I watched the DVD, Sir! No Sir!, a powerful film about the government-suppressed story about the GI movement to end the war in Viet Nam. I urge you all to rent or purchase the DVD, and to take a stand with Iraq Veterans Against The War. We MUST keep Obama accountable.