Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Future is Now


If you google the above phrase, "The Future is Now," and press enter, the first entry you will most certainly come across is a link to an article written by William Greider for The Nation, on June 8th, 2006. Before you ask, yes, The Nation is a left-leaning paper, but keep in mind that it IS the oldest published weekly magazine in the United States and it’s mission statement is as follows:

According to The Nation's founding prospectus of 1865, "The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred."

In the article, Mr. Greider, a prominent political journalist and author with more than 35 years experience, goes on to talk not only about the necessity of change in our economy, but how to untangle the current mess our country has stagnated under for the last 8 years, if not the last 27 years when Ronald Regan took office. To be totally honest, I googled “The Future is Now,” because I was playing around with the name for a title to this very ambitious and lengthy blog entry. I would seriously suggest that everyone who takes the time to read this blog, stops, and reads Mr. Greider’s article from beginning to end, which gives a detailed account of our economy, it’s history, and a possible shift for the future leaders to initiate.

Of course, future leaders are exactly why this blog entry comes to me today. As our country propels itself forward to November 4th, when we will very certainly elect a new Presidential leader, one has to absorb various slogans, policies, promises, commercials, debates and the like. As John McCain sits on cruise control to November, a war of words and promises is being waged inside the Democratic Party as Barack Obama, the Junior Senator from Illinois competes with the Junior Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, for what is essentially history in the making. It would seem for the moment, that Barack Obama has garnered a lead in the contest for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. His charisma and confidence are starting to lay roots as witnessed by myself and friends at a rally on the steps of the Texas state Capitol building last Friday evening. Now, for the first time in a while, Texas and Ohio will have a big say in who continues on to the final political joust when our primary election occurs on March 4th. For Obama, it would seal the deal, pushing him forward to spar with McCain. For Clinton, it’s precisely what she needs to jump-start her campaign and get her back into this race. If she loses Ohio and Texas, she will more than likely withdraw as the superdelegates follow the momentum on the scale to Obama’s corner. My largest concerns come from the fact that the Democrats appear divided in a time where, if they are looking to fill the oval office, they need to stand united, but I suppose this HAS to happen, we HAVE to choose one candidate. Never mind that Clinton, Obama, and Edwards ran almost similar campaigns. Never mind that during the debate last Thursday night, on the campus of the University of Texas, they debated their almost-identical health plans with great vigor. In a time like this, how can one actually decide which candidate to vote for? How can one distinguish two people running under almost identical banners? This is a great question and for me it was answered last Friday night when I watched and listened with great interest and anticipation to the discourse presented by Barack Obama. My feelings of support and adoration started the first time I heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 in support of John Kerry. The passion and truth that emanated from his person on my television sparked an involuntary reaction in me to cease and dissist everything I was doing at that moment to watch.



I hung onto every word that came out of his mouth and sat in amazement of how eloquent this politician sounded. It wakes up that intellectual part of you that feels as if it’s been asleep for so long and instantly recalls all the really wonderful and amazing people that have influenced your life and made an impact, etched in stone. It was that feeling that carried me all the way to today and will most certainly carry me to the polls to vote for him.

Now sure, you can start up the argument that words from politicians can be hollow and that actions indeed speak louder than, and we’ve certainly had our fair share of empty promises in the past. OBVIOUSLY, they’re trying to get elected and so there’s a bit of grandstanding, kissing babies, and making damn well certain they look and sound squeaky clean to the hearts and minds of the American public, but you have to look past that. You have to look past the cameras, the lights, the speeches and the media. This man presents himself in a light that I have never witnessed during my lifetime and only heard about in books and films, that told stories of a man that lived when my parents were my age. John F. Kennedy was young, ambitious, and he had a lot of ideas about how to fix what was wrong with the country. Now if you’re reading this and are naïve enough to think there’s nothing wrong with this country and that it’s perfectly fine the way it is, you can stop reading now. I’ll get back to you when Armageddon happens and make sure to shake your hand for doing nothing to change our course when we still had a chance. Barack Obama, like JFK has slowly moved closer and closer to becoming an icon of American hopes and aspirations. He is the embodiment of the American Dream, coming from nothing, working hard throughout his life, and achieving greatness; and he’s YOUNG. That’s right, if elected, Obama would be the third youngest President elected to office and something about that really excites me. His biggest critics will argue that he lacks experience in almost every arena of government. Well, to that I’d say, when did 20 years of public service get equated to “not enough experience?” Senator Obama made an amusing anecdote at the rally last Friday about how it seems everyone who thinks he lacks the necessary experience suggests he should wait until he’s older, until he looks and sounds more like the politicians who are currently occupying the offices of the executive branch today. They say that then, and only then he’ll sound more like them, look more like them, and more than likely, do his part to maintain the status quo. HELLO, this is why I’m all in favor of getting him in there right now before he becomes entangled and tied down by the lies perpetrated by the very shady bureaucracy that is our current administration. It is precisely why I believe Hillary Clinton is the wrong person for the job. She has been wrapped up in politics ever since the day her husband became Governor of Arkansas in 1979. Don’t get me wrong, I like her and being in politics for so long definitely lends her to experience, but it is that longevity in the political arena that I think would lead her to make decisions similar to the ones we’ve seen during the last eight years. Experience, as everyone seems to define in their heads, may not be the best deciding factor for choosing the best candidate. Besides, a long time ago, I made a prediction that the next president would ultimately be known by history as a “martyr” president. This prediction is pulled from a book given to me by mother a few years back called the Sanctus Germanus Prophecies. It lead me to believe that our next elected leader would have to sacrifice his or her term to fix and untangle everything that has gone wrong (and there’s a lot) during the last eight years. Then, in 2012, when the Age of Aquarius comes to be, we will enter into a new era where a “divine” balance is achieved and finally a woman will be elected President. I’m just as excited for either candidate to become President during my lifetime. The gift of witnessing that history of change is exhilarating and anyone present should count himself or herself lucky. However, it would seem, to me anyway, that change in this country, for the better, has always been predicated on the presence of a young mind and a willingness to stand up for what you believe in, against all odds, and sometimes, in the face of great adversity. It has become nothing shy of apparent to me that Barack Obama possesses not only the willingness to speak out for change against the paradigm of our static government (voted against the war in Iraq), but that he also possesses the audacity to perpetuate hope in a time when it feels like there is very little left amongst Americans.

I’ll be the first to admit, that I feel more involved in this election than in any in my entire life. I’ve made certain that if I am going to give my support to the Junior Senator from Illinois and write passionately as to why I think he’s the best option, than it is MY responsibility to have looked at every speech he’s made, goggled every action he’s taken during the course of his tenure in public office, know his biography back and forth, and I must say, that at this point, there has been nothing to make me believe that he is the wrong choice for President. In fact, to be honest, most of the arguments I have encountered with friends and colleagues about his worthiness aren’t even balanced, due to the fact that so many people I talk to have not taken the time to read about who he is and where he comes from. Advocating citizens of the United States to become more actively involved in their government is one of the main points Senator Obama made last Friday night. I have talked to people that have not taken the time to read about his ideas concerning universal health care, or trying to restore the middle class, or even his ambitious attempts to create “green” jobs that would cut our dependency on oil we’re spending billions of dollars and thousands of live on, while simultaneously restoring middle class jobs. No one knows about a bi-partisan bill sponsored by Senator Obama called the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which is essentially a way for Americans to google the national budget and actually see where all the money is flowing, thus taking a larger role in how are government operates and keeping so called “earmarks” in check.

The man has great ideas and as I stood and listened to him, with the state capitol building, looming behind him, I knew, I knew it in my heart that this man needs to be given a chance to unite us, to show us why he's worked so hard his entire life just to get to this point, and then lead us onto a new page of American history. I feel that he will fan the flame of hope and embolden every American to lead, and thusly live better lives. The only hesitation any one can genuinely claim to have about voting for him will undoubtedly lead to a foundation of fear that has been building inside all of us ever since 9/11 and has been strengthened by the disparaging fear tactics of the Bush Administration and even more so, members of the right. We don’t have to be fearful or disinclined to ask questions anymore. In the future, we can all be brave together and have the audacity to hope again as Barack Obama opens the cob-webbed doors of government to it's people once more. I believe the future is now.

I'm sure at this point most people have a clear idea of who they will be casting their vote for and I didn't write this blog entry to sway voters one way or the next. I just wanted to express the feelings and ideas of one Christopher Shea in the year 2008. Don't forget to vote and try not to be too hasty in passing judgement. Consider all the facts and then listen to your heart. I'm listening to mine.



Oh yeah, did I mention I predicted the New York Giants would win the Superbowl???

Hardcore great in '08'