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November 11, 2008

Why My Uncle Voted for Barack Obama

The other day, my mother emailed me a brief paper she had received from my uncle explaining why he decided to vote for Barack Obama for President. Being that he is exceptionally bright, is a very successful entrepreneur, has served his country in war time, and is a genuinely good and thoughtful man, I personally give a lot of weight to what he has to say. And I am very grateful that he has agreed to let me post his piece here for you to read and discuss.

Many of our readers would have voted for the Democratic candidate, no matter who that person was. Some Americans, however, had a much more difficult choice to make. I think it is beneficial to consider why some people broke from their party to vote for our next President, Barack Obama.

An Old Friend

Goodbye old friend. My earliest recollection of you occurred when I was watching TV at the Nelson’s across the street. Claude Nelson had one of the very first TVs in Winnemucca, and there I was, a 10-year old kid, viewing the election returns that portended a landslide re-election victory for Ike against Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver. This event occurred almost 52 years ago to the day.

The emotions that struck me at the time were the way Americans seemed to come together and backed the President, no matter what party, after the election was over. We were fighting a “Cold War” against a communist enemy who wanted to dominate the world with their oppressive and evil system of government. Times were much simpler then. Everything seemed to be black and white. The United States had just 11 years earlier saved the world for the second time by ousting the fascists Hitler and Tojo from power. The United States represented all of the attributes befitting its status as the leader of the free world — democracy, free market capitalism with core values, an effective and free press, technology, celebration of the Judaic-Christian tradition, rule of law, patriotism, and a morality of right against wrong that the world had never seen before. Yes, a 200-year old experiment in governance, in values, and in opportunity was thriving and the envy of all nations. At least that was my America. Oh, sure, there were flaws that we ignored in areas such as race relations and other things, but it was irreversibly the way I saw it then. Other perceptions are valid too. I am only describing mine. I loved the flag. I loved the country. Still do. No one can take that away from me. I also loved the way we used to be able to respectfully communicate with each other, no matter the differences.

Tweaks in the armor that was the United States came in the Vietnam era. As Bobby Dylan said, “The times they are a changin’.” And indeed, they were. Lyndon Johnson lied to us. More tweaks. Watergate. More wounds thrust. Gradual, subtle changes overtook my idealistic notion of America. But, our enemy continued to be evil and godless (a metaphor of good versus evil, not a statement on religion). Then in the darkest of days, the end of the Carter years when all was bleak, and dark, and failing, a man came along and talked about “It is morning in America” and “America is a shining city on a hill.” For a period I felt as though we had recaptured that nobility of country that I had known in my youth. And, we indeed did recapture it. Our mortal enemy fell. Now we had the tools to lead the way to even greater glories for all. Our technology was second to none. Our economic, political, military, and moral leadership was beyond dispute. Then, something terrible began to happen under our noses.

A subtle, gradual, almost unnoticeable change began to take place in our country. What was right for America was no longer right for the world. But we fought that notion. Core values disappeared. Ego replaced service in the highest positions of government, politics, business, labor, law, and journalism. Discord replaced civility. “Gotcha” became the cruel game of dominance. The morality bars were consistently lowered. Citizens lost respect for each other. The political parties became toxic, self-serving, unaccountable, and morally bereft. Individual dialog became angry, nonsensical, and filled with hate. Special interests ruled all. We drove away our old friends in the world. The rest of the world lost respect for us. Sound bites and manipulation became substitutes for thoroughness and truth. Common sense took a back seat. Bi-partisanship died. All applicable groups, individuals, and actions for this demise were to blame — presidents, congresses, courts, lobbyists, ideologues, the media, multi-national businesses, labor unions, greed, fear, anger, intimidation, and lack of accountability. In short, we have landed on the precipice that many years earlier Abraham Lincoln had warned us about. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” And here we stand today right on the edge. It is not all Bush’s fault. It is not all the Democratic Congress or the Republican Congress before it's fault. It is not all the greed of Wall Street speculators' fault. It is not all government’s fault. It is not all the consumer’s fault. But all of these institutions and people within the institutions and many more played a role in the collapse of our society (yes, I did say collapse).

And so, I tearfully say goodbye to the nobility that was. I say goodbye to those principles that made America great. And, I say hello to a new age that has irreversibly and inevitably thrust itself upon us. It is an age which will give us great cause for hope and optimism and inclusion for all. But, it will be a new adventure. It is a future filled with great challenge, perhaps greater than ever. And, it will be different than anything we have known. What worked in the past can continue to be our guiding light. But the pathology that we have infected ourselves with must go and it must go now.

Senator McCain. You have my deepest respect. You represent all that is noble and great about America. No one can demean your record of accomplishment and service. In my humble opinion, you are the best candidate for President we have seen in many years. But, alas, your time has past. It grieves me to say that. We have to find a new way. Barack Obama has the tools to be the leader we need, just as Ronald Reagan had the tools that we needed then. You can lead us to new types of understanding. I pray that you do. We can’t bomb our way into dominance any more. We cannot refuse to sit down and talk with anybody in this new and small world. Done correctly, the world will follow us in bringing down the rogues. It always has and it will again. And, we can bring down these rogues without firing a shot. We can stop being the “Ugly American.” We can’t spend the money we have been spending being the world’s policeman. And, above all else we cannot do anything by ourselves ever again unless it meets a universal acceptance as the right, moral, and ethical thing to do. To paraphrase Dylan, “The times, they have changed.” We cannot go back to the simpler time as much as I would like us to. We must emerge from this present chaos and reorganize ourselves at a higher level of human consciousness.

So, this old friend that I have described is the metaphor best represented by John McCain, the nobility of all that has been the successful portion of the American experiment. The good won’t leave us, but it will transcend the bad that has befallen us and move upward to greater heights and include ever more minions of our fellow human beings. Only Obama has the potential of making such a change at this time. It is time to heal. And, on that basis, I will cast my vote for Barack Obama and pray that he rises above his broken party and our broken system to lead us once again as a united people with the most honorable of intentions and actions. To President Obama, I will be watching. I will be wishing you success. And, I will help you in all ways that I am able if you show the leadership of which I believe you are capable. And to you Senator McCain, continue to fight the good fight in concert with Barack Obama. I know you will. You are a cherished American and I wish you well for always.

Posted by Becky at November 11, 2008 08:12 AM