My mother taught me at a very young age that freedom does not only mean fighting for the right to speak that which you believe in. It also means fighting for the right of your opponent to yell that which he believes in at the top of his lungs.
Freedom means fighting for the right of someone else to preach that which you so fervently stand against.
I didn’t understand the sentiment till I was much older, but I always remembered it.
In early 1994, during the first Clinton election, I told my kindergarten class that they should tell their parents to vote for Clinton because he was pro-choice and that was very important for freedom.
Last Thursday, watching Sen. Barack Obama formally accept the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field in Colorado, I was overcome by that same feeling of hope one usually finds reserved for feel-good movies.
As if from one, Obama stood up for almost 45 minutes and spoke of everything the American people are worried about. And he was inspirational.
In less than an hour, in less time than many politicians can complete a thought, Obama managed to write a brilliant movie monologue in the cinema circus that is American politics.
Enough, Obama repeated again and again.
Enough of failed Bush administration policies.
Enough of Sen. John McCain’s empty promises of the same old thing.
Enough of the same. On to the new.
“America, we are better than these last eight years,” Obama said. “We are a better country than this.”
Countless times, Obama reminded us that we as a nation have settled for mediocrity for too long. He also reminded us that McCain is no different from the man we’ve continued to settle for these last four years. McCain’s changes, Obama stressed, are simply a quicker route down the path that President George W. Bush built.
“Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans,” he said.
“I just think he doesn't know.”
Obama reminded us that he knows. He cares and he can change the direction of this country. It was inspirational, unintentionally filmic and spectacular. Sen. Obama was engaging and relevant, right down to his pop culture lift from Aaron Sorkin’s “The American President.” He spoke furiously into the camera, much as Michael Douglas’s character did in the movie.
“If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.”
The Illinois senator’s best quotes were short, succinct and spoken with perfect cadence.
Obama stated that he was not a celebrity, that was he not a typical politician and that he was not like other candidates.
Invoking the names of arguably the most influential presidents in America’s twentieth century, Roosevelt and Kennedy were mentioned as the men who fought for change as ardently Obama continues to do.
Last Thursday, Obama articulately reminded a nation why he will be the nation’s forty-fourth president.
“You have shown what history teaches us,” Obama said to the 75,000-person field as well as to the nation, “that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it — because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.
“America, this is one of those moments.”
This is the moment and the election which will decide the fate of our country’s next century. This election, more so than any other in America’s history will be our defining moment and we must demand a change.
For full text/video of the speech: Obama
