No, I’m overwhelmed to think that this dream could really come to be a reality . . . so I wait with baited breath, along with the rest of the country, daring to hope against hope that at last, we all will be “invited to the party”.

However, one thing that really struck me last night, as I researched the local races, was that my renewed excitement over the political process (which has everything to do with the way that Obama made politics real to me again) was obviously having an effect on my attitude towards my own local elections . . .

Although I’m loathe to admit this, I’m a bit of a sloppy voter. (okay, aren’t we all?!) But seriously . . . my attitude towards local races has typically been to vote along my party lines, and in the case of allegedly “non-partisan” races (for judges and the like), to more often choose a female candidate over a male candidate. (My theory being that no matter what her political leanings, a woman will more often be likely to act in ways that are beneficial to women and children. Yeah, I said it’s a theory, and I said I’m sloppy about it!)

But this time, I really stopped and looked at the candidates, and compared their views, and (oh, please don’t shoot me, folks!) I actually voted for a few republicans in local races. (I also voted for one Green Party candidate . . . “oooooohh, she’s a Socialist! We knew it! Somebody put her on some list somewhere!”)

But my point is . . . I was probably more deliberate and intentional, more INFORMED, in my voting than I ever have been in my life. Why? Because Obama, by the way he conducted this campaign, caused me to believe that my vote really DOES matter, that there is some room for hope in this world.

And for the first time in my life, I am really, really proud of my country.

But if we say, “oh, that’s so horribly racist and *I* would never be like that”, then we are missing the point entirely. Racism isn’t just the ugly stuff . . . it’s embedded in our DNA as citizens of this country. 

This is among the worst manifestations of this, to be sure. But I cannot escape my own culpability simply by decrying such ugly acts of hatred, any more than the woman who passed this on can honestly say that it was “just food”, that she had no idea of the hateful negative connotations these particular food items have.

Seriously. I’m trying to move on to another topic, but it’s been one of those weeks.

First, there was this bullshit:

I like that Field asked, “Is that the same as ‘those people’?“

But seriously, folks. it has NOT been a good week for those who would like us to believe that Obama’s campaign for the presidency means that racism is dead and buried in this country of ours.

Let’s see what else we’ve got . . .

Obama burned in effigy . . . at a Christian college. Nice.

Palin preying on her supporters’ already festering ignorance. People are starting to question whether this will backfire.

Meanwhile, her supporters are yelling out “kill him!” and one even said to an African-American news station employee, “Sit down, boy!”

[Nope, we're good. no racism here!]

By the time McCain tries to backtrack, it’s almost beside the point.

I am getting really, really tired of this. And I’m too tired to say much more right now (or maybe my sleeping pill is finally kicking in?) so maybe I’ll have more later this week . . . [footnote: or two months later . . . when we already WON so who cares, right? well, stay tuned . . . ]

and PLEASE vote.

It’s not about drinking the Kool-aid. I am not so naive as to think that any politician, any HUMAN, can solve all of our problems, or save us from ourselves.

And it’s not about scrutinizing his policies in an effort to ensure that I agree with every single word the man says. For me, politics has always been about choosing “the lesser of two evils”. But then, I don’t think Obama is evil, either. No, he’s not the Messiah . . . but neither is he the Anti-Christ . . .

and yet, watching this man, I have hope. and that hope frightens me to death, because I am not sure that my heart will be able to handle seeing this hope deferred yet again.

So no, I don’t see Obama as a solution to all that ails us . . . but what I DO see is a man of integrity, a man who genuinely loves his wife (when’s the last time we saw THAT in the White House?) and who is finally offering us a refreshing departure from politics as usual.

But in this country, we have far too often responded to hope by crushing that hope underfoot.

And I just don’t know if my soul can take another crushing.

Dobson said on the radio program he must consider McCain’s record against abortion rights and support for smaller government, and added McCain “seems to understand the Muslim threat.” He also indicated McCain’s choice of a running mate will be a factor.

(full article here)

So, Doctor, would that be THIS “‘Muslim‘ threat”?

There was a lot of talk about it on a purportedly light-hearted blog that I read regularly. Not everybody there shares my personal view of things, least of all the blog owner, but I think the comments on this entry pretty much run the gamut in terms of the variety of beliefs/thoughts that people have on the issue . . .

Many people are saying that Obama should just shut up about it . . . it’s satire, blah blah blah . . . (and we Grand Rapids folks know all about satire gone wrong . . . )

But seriously. The New Yorker cover barely qualifies as satire, mainly because FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE believe the cover image to be a completely accurate representation of who Barack Obama is.

And psssssst . . . I hear he kills kittens, too . . .

FIGHT THE SMEARS!

’nuff said.

But I came across this video (HT to BarackOblogger) and I just couldn’t resist.

I’m sure it goes without saying that I am not particularly fond of abortion (and I’m gonna do what Jesus would do and not say one word about the gay thing), but as for the rest of this–yeah. good stuff.