A More Perfect Union

The urge to stand up and place my hand over my heart was pretty strong in the first few minutes of watching this video.




I wouldn't want anyone to get a certain misguided impression of me: I have no love of politics. I am interested in our government and in our society. I am passionate about many of the issues addressed by the people we know as politicians. It's kind of complicated--mostly because of limitations and misuses of language, but I see the management of our nation as one thing--a thing I am interested in--while the politics of managing the nation is entirely another thing that I am not very interested in.


Once every two years, if I want to follow through on my interest in society and government, I have to take an interest in politics, at least until after the election is done.


Every now and then, a politician surprises me by doing the thing I really love to do anytime I put my hand to any task: I find the boundaries and figure out how much the envelope will stretch before it breaks. To think outside the box does not mean to destroy the box. Done right, out-of-the-box thinking acknowledges the need for a box and it ends up making the box stronger.


Because of the political necessity of distancing himself from statements made by the pastor of his church, the junior senator from my home state, Mr. Barack Obama has today set the bar for politics much higher than it was before. In short, he said that he doesn't, can't and won't agree with everything the pastor says and at the same time he tells us that he likes the pastor and stands up for a man's right to say what he thinks.


In doing so, Mr.Obama has risen above politics, race, religion and personal opinion all in one fell swoop.


I would like to share one thing I know about Barack Obama, a thing I know because he's my senator: his loyalties are to the Constitution and to the idea of representative government,i.e. government by, of and for the people.


We aren't used to that.


We're used to our politicians putting their own values and their own interests first--ahead of ours. We're used to casting our votes based on our agreement with a candidate's personal opinions. If we're pro-X, we look for pro-X candidates and we don't vote for anyone that we know to be anti-X. That's politics as usual.


Mr Obama listens to his constituents and represents us, even when what we want goes against his personal opinions. Oh, he will try to talk to us if he thinks we're making a bad choice, but in the end, the Senator does the job WE ask him to do.


Contrast that to the current "president" (term used loosely here). He does what he wants no matter what we want, no matter what the United Nations says, no matter what anyone says. The current "president" DOES NOT REPRESENT THE CITIZENS OF HIS NATION.


Obama will. That's the kind of senator he is and that's the kind of president he'll be. I'm going to vote for him, proudly. My vote for representative government is a vote for ME and YOU.


Thank me later.