Posted by
Cindy of TX on Saturday, September 27, 2008 9:18:34 PM
In his zeal to provide change and hope, Obama has placed himself in a position, seemingly intentionally, of being part of an America where there is no hope, and certainly no pride. I suppose that position is meant to show all of us how badly we need him. Ironically, it does nothing but clearly demonstrate how desparately we cannot possibly accept him. I submit as evidence Obama's closing remarks from Debate 1, Oxford, Mississippi, which start with the anecdote about his Kenyan father writing letters seeking to come to the U.S. where "our ideals and values inspired the world." He follows this comment, where America's inspiration to the world is relegated to the past tense, with this statement:
"I don't think any of us can say that our standing in the world now, the way children around the world look at the United States, is the same."
This is a stunning statement. First of all, it is simply and patently untrue. I realize the senator has been very busy with his campaign, but surely he was able to watch at least a snippet of the Olympics - at least the part where the American athletes received one of the largest and loudest ovations of all during the opening ceremonies. I am also aware that there has not been much time to participate in the important debates on the Senate floor in the past two years (and it has seemed that long!), but it couldn't have escaped his notice that we are having a bit of a problem with immigration issues here in the U.S. and if Kenya is having the same problem, I'm not aware of it.
It boils down to this: America's inspiration lives today! We all know it. Obama's statement in the closing moments of Debate 1 does not reflect a lack of inspiration in America; it reflects a lack of inspiration in the man who made the statement.