Politics as Usual?

Tuesday night, I watched President Obama deliver the State of the Union Address, and thought about what the country saw in him two years ago, and what I still see in him today, as he begins to recover from the strong message the country sent him and his party during the Midterm elections this year.


For me, Mr. Obama is a highly inspirational figure, as he's done something no one has ever done before. Without a doubt, Mr. Obama will have a significant place in American history as the first black president in a country whose past is splattered with the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow. Mr. Obama's presidency is an impressive thing which will stand out in the pages of history text books, as well as the hearts and minds of those who lived to see it happen.


But more than just getting elected, it's what he stands for that has impressed itself upon me. He stands for hope and change (At least, I hope it's more than a campaign slogan), and his ethnicity is a constant reminder of the incredible progress that people can make in this country.


I'm tired of the same old politics, the bickering, the at-each-other's-throats, the mindless obsession with staying in power, the unwillingness of "leaders" in Congress to give an inch, or compromise (an almost childlike quality)--which all comes at the expense of Americans who really do buy into this Democracy.


I expect more from our leaders in government, and I'm apprehensive towards the future that our progenitors have laid out and created for us...with immediate concerns like the defecit or terror or health care, but also with long term concerns like the impending disappearance of oil and water. Having experienced 9/11 when I was still in elementary school, and with complex international relationships with North Korea and countries in the Middle East, the world seems precarious and scary. With the advent of China and India, there's the growing possibility that America may have already reached its Golden Age--and that maybe I missed it.


So I'm nostalgic for a past I never experienced, but that my parents experienced. This is the past of JFK and Civil Rights and the year 1968; and I'm ready for my day. I'm young, idealistic, and perhaps a bit naive, but energized by the events in my parents' youth, which remind me of what America really stands for. In November of 2008, the hope was that maybe this one man, this one figure, could unify us, and bring us back to that day where it seemed like anything was possible. Maybe my faith in government is misplaced, and I don't yet have the cynicism of my father, but I think it's okay to believe in a person and a set of ideals and values. 


To me, Mr. Obama embodies a new wave of politics and leadership, as he himself is new, fresh, inspiring, capable, and seemingly unstoppable (he certainly seemed that way in 2008). He somehow embodies the change my generation wants to see in the world, and he's the hope of America. It's not only his blackness that sets him apart, though that's a constant visual reminder, but it's his rectitude and strength. There's a palpable purpose to him that makes me think we're going in the right direction. I'm proud to call him our president, and I trust him. There's a hope that maybe he can unify us as a country and rise above the bitter partisanship that seems to consume Washington and the 24-hour news cycle. Maybe that's a bit too much to ask in one man, but maybe he's the start.


In November of 2008, there was a sense that perhaps we had gotten it right with this one. I know there will always be doubters and people who have honest ideological differences, but even Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity had to be in awe the day he was sworn in as president.


During his campaign, this poster became immensely popular as a symbol of him and his campaign. One of the reasons that this poster has been so successful and iconic, I think, is that it embodies all of what I'm talking about here in this single shot of Mr. Obama looking upwards towards better things. The other thing that this picture does, is that it removes Mr. Obama's color. He's red, white, and blue--American--not black or white. And maybe this is one of the most important things people see in him.