It's been a few months, I know. Fact is, after keeping two blogs for the better part of a year, both focused on changing the environment, both literally and figuratively, I saw the election of Barack Obama as a chance for blessed respite.
I, like so many others, could be accused for placing too many hopes and dreams, too many expectations, upon a single man. Certainly Barack Obama is an incalculable improvement over the person he replaced, and yet, he's still just a man, with human frailties and a divided and oftentimes ineffectual Congress.
Still, it's clear that of anyone to serve as President since John F. Kennedy, Barrack Hussein Obama looks to be the guy who can push the kind of agendas that make progressives like me especially proud to be a part of the American fabric.
So as the great Thom Hartmann always says, getting Obama elected was only the beginning. Now it is up to us to push him to greatness. Sponsible. org aims to do just that.
It's hard at this point to write something that hasn't already been written, express a thought or emotion that hasn't been more eloquently stated by scores of others. Suffice to say that with Barack Obama's win this past Tuesday night the world was forever changed for the better.
In the two days since this magnificently historical event global ebullience is still high. We seem to collectively understand the implications of a man of color rising to fill the top job in America. As a country founded on principle rather than persuasion, we have only recently attempted to truly manifest the potent words of our Declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal." On Tuesday night we finally realized this prophesy.
President-Elect Obama's win was both a valediction to a terrible, terrible period in our history and a coming-out party for one that at long last gives depth of meaning to another famous phrase from the Declaration, "We, the people."
As of Tuesday night a black child could also dream of becoming President, a privilege formerly reserved only for white boys. And thanks to the spirited campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton, now girls, both black and white, can share this lofty reverie.
Internationally, we've pulled ourselves up from the depths to which the Bush administration had sunk us. Whereas we were just recently perceived as callow bullies, insensitive to the global brotherhood the European Union has begun to build, our tarnished image has now been shined as we put our fears and prejudices aside to do the right thing.
In electing Barack Hussein Obama as President of these United States we didn't elect a black man or a man of mixed heritage or a man with a different name or a man whose father was born in Kenya. In electing Senator Obama we chose the best man for the job, because of and in spite of all of these things. It's not so amazing that we picked a black man to be our next President. What is amazing is that we picked the right man to be our next President, and he just so happens to be black. That is true equality.
God Bless America and God Bless our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama.
The effect of drought and rising food prices in some parts of Ethiopia is headline news, yet few people know the truth of the situation.
Children are the most vulnerable to nutritional deficits and the first to succumb when there is not enough food to go around. The Government of Ethiopia estimates that 75,000 children under the age of five live with severe acute malnutrition. And 25 to 50 percent of children with severe acute malnutrition are likely to die if they don't receive proper treatment.
But there is hope for the children of Ethiopia. UNICEF-supported therapeutic feeding programs have been set up around Ethiopia following the establishment of a national protocol for severe acute malnutrition. This approach has revolutionized the treatment of malnutrition in Ethiopia, leading to a significant drop in mortality rates for malnourished children of all ages.
Bringing international attention to the plight of these children and the benefits of the therapeutic feeding programs can help save lives!
On Friday evening I attended a speaking engagement with author/humanitarian/historian/entrepreneur/educator/economist/radio host Thom Hartmann at the San Fernando Valley Democratic Headquarters in Van Nuys, CA.
If you don't know Thom, you need to. Thom is, to me at least, a modern-day version of another significant Thomas – Jefferson – in that he's worldly and erudite yet an everyman. He is a true believer in a "we society" as opposed to a "me society", and yet he has the capacity to be the one to speak out for "we."
On Friday night he waxed philosophical on a number of topics – from Hobbsian vs. Lockean views (he sides more with Locke) on society to a particularly formative night he spent making peace with members of a tribe inside an Iroquois teepee.
He mentioned being especially impressed with the way Barack Obama handled himself during the last debate – how he refused to take the bait McCain put out for him. In spite of the fact that even the cool and collected Hartmann found himself creaming at the TV for Barack to retaliate to the lies, he did in the end see the greater wisdom of Obama's strategy. It is a more peaceful, controlled, self-assured leader we Americans are seeking today. The more McCain played the role of bully, and the more Barack responded with calm rather than anger, the greater his approval rose. In the end, most polls had Obama winning the debate by a huge margin, despite the initial concerns of some, like Hartmann and myself.
Thom admitted to not agreeing 100% with Barack on all the issues, but that the important thing right now is to get him into office, at which time our real work will begin – to push him to become a great reformer in the mold of Lincoln and FDR. He pointed out that neither man started their political careers with great change in mind. Lincoln only decided to give slaves freedom when he saw the divided nation before him. FDR's first act as President was to cut welfare to widows and orphans of WWI soldiers. It was when the People expressed their displeasure, and then their needs, that he began to change into the FDR we appreciate today.
Thom also addressed the (gulp) possibility that the Conservatives steal the election. While he isn't in favor of a Bolshevik-style revolution, he would become actively involved in a nationwide sit-in, a la Gandhi. Let's hope he never has to dirty up his trousers.
I encourage everyone reading this to get to know Thom. He's really a remarkable, inspiring man, and best of all, he can be heard every morning from 9-12 on Air America Radio. Also, check out his site here, where you can buy his many books and even catch podcasts of his show.
Friday marked my third time seeing Thom Hartmann speak live. I look forward to many more.
