Yes! The election is nearly here! OK, it doesn't provide the same thrill in the gut as when you were a kid and it was Christmas Eve... but it will be simply grand to be done with it.
Looking back over the nearly two years of this spectacle, I can confidently report my favorite moment, one that happened to me personally!
A couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama visited Leesburg, Virginia, not far from here. I had taken my daughter to the doctor's office and after it was over, she wanted to go see Obama. Well, alright. So off we went to brave the teeming crowds and find a distant parking place.
By the time we arrived at the entrance of the outdoor event, we were nearly late, but there were still plenty of people streaming in. Traffic was blocked off and the main road was cleared for pedestrians. To get there, we had to pass by a phalanx of McCain/Palin supporters.
They were in good form. Lots of signs suggesting we were baby-killers, treasonous traitors and socialists. Only in America.
As my daughter and I crossed their area with other Obama-bound folk, we heard their cries of opposition. One well-dressed, leather-lunged gentleman held up a yellow sign equating Obama with Socialism. As he waved it defiantly, he let out a loud, long penetrating bray:
"Stalin Obama!! Staaaaahhhlllin Oooooobhaaaammhaaaaa!!!!"
This is quite a statement to absorb, no matter where one may be on the political map, or the middle of the road (quite literally). I looked at my daughter and the other people walking with us into the entranceway. Everyone was agog. We had one of those wonderful moments of shared looks of astonishment.
And then my daughter let out a guffaw. I followed with a snort and a sharp laugh. Immediately everyone around us pitched in with their own great laughs. It was too surreal and preposterous - the humor of the moment swept us all up. Instead of being angry, we all entered the rally laughing and feeling very good.
The Quote of the Day:
"No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear." -- Edmund Burke
2 comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s
A Civilian Security Force?????
Will they wear brown shirts, or black shirts?
Looks like we baby killers had a mandate last night. Final tally: Obama 349, McCain 161. You know things "are a'changing" when Colorado went O.
Next hurdle for equality in this country - get gays out of the back of the bus. The fact that straight America is so scared of their sacred institution of marriage being denigrated by same sex couples baffles me. Afterall, isn't it the straight community which has perfected divorce so that it is now well over 50% in this country?
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