|
ON Barack Obama’s first day as a
senator, occupying a tiny transition office right next to a
janitor’s closet in the basement of the Dirksen office building,
he was asked: “Senator Obama, what is your place in history?”
The question has just been answered by Barack Obama, who has just
declared he is seeking the presidency of the world’s greatest
superpower nation. The crowds that braved the freezing weather in
Illinois to personally witness Obama’s announcement have been
moved by the powerful, purposeful vision of a man they hope will
lead them as Lincoln once arrayed the moral forces of the American
nation against slavery: “Of strange, discordant, and even hostile
elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to
battle through.” They gathered because, in their hearts, they
believe this man offers the best chance at national transformation
with his audacity of hope, with his desire “to win that next
battle—for justice and opportunity; for better schools, better
jobs and better health care for all. They gathered because they
share his belief “in what this country can be. In the face of war,
you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe
there can be hope. In the face of a politics that’s shut you out,
that’s told you to settle, that’s divided us for too long, you
believe that we can be one people, reaching for what’s possible,
building that more perfect union.”
Obama was a
humble community organizer who accepted a small salary, despite
being a Harvard-educated lawyer, because he was motivated then by a
single, simple, powerful idea—that he might play a small part in
building a better America. Today, he aspires to play the greatest
part in the moral reconstruction of America and change the decadence
of its incumbent leadership that is causing its collapse.
He accuses
incumbent leaders: “What’s stopped us is the failure of
leadership, the smallness of our politics—the ease with which
we’re distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance
of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political
points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working
consensus to tackle the big problems of America.” Certainly, when
a leader has nothing to offer the world but war and genocidal
violence, instead of elevating the world from its misery, squalor
and poverty, then horrible events are bound to happen: the Hurricane
Katrina disaster; the mounting death toll in Iraq; the substitution
of wars for diplomacy and foresight.
People have
been looking away in disillusionment and frustration at the
incumbent government. But Obama has stressed that each citizen has
to accept responsibility—“for instilling an ethic of achievement
in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for
strengthening our communities and sharing some measure of
sacrifice.” Grieving for the families that have “lost loved
ones, hearts that have been broken and the young lives that could
have been,” Obama offers the determined resolution to start
bringing American troops back home and admit that no amount of
American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at
the heart of someone else’s civil war.” He understands
people’s skepticism: “After all, every four years, candidates
from both parties make similar promises . . . All those running for
president will be offering 10-point plans and making grand speeches;
all will trumpet those qualities they believe make them uniquely
qualified to lead the country. But too many times, after the
election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises
fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move
in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle
on their own. That’s why this campaign can’t only be about Obama.
It must be about the people—it must be about what can be done
together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of
people’s hopes, and dreams. It will take people’s time, energy
and advice—to push leaders forward when they are doing right, and
to let them know when they are not. This campaign has to be about
reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring the sense of common
purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of
millions of voices calling for change.”
Barack Obama
is not just addressing the American people. He is addressing the
world gone cynical over corrupt, incompetent and morally degenerate
leaders. He tells the world that a different future is possible. He
tells us that there is power in conviction. And that beneath all the
differences of race and region, faith and station, the world
comprises one people. He tells us that there is power in hope. Obama,
unadulterated and still uncorrupted, has the makings of a great
American president. Our people need such leaders; not actors, boxers
or brain-impaired justice secretaries, but leaders who have the
capacity to instill the hope and reality of real change.
|
