John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate may prove to be a master-stroke of misdirection. If it works, I will cry, not only for the loss of an election, but for the loss of the American Dream.
Our country was founded on dreams: the dream that all men are created equal in the sight of God, that a judicial system should be based upon the discovery of truth and the rule of law, and that the people of a nation are entitled to a voice in decisions made on their behalf by their government. These are noble dreams, and I am constantly amazed at how well they have survived repeated attacks over the years from people like Joseph McCarthy, and more recently from Bush and Cheney.
The Dream is that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, a place where anyone can prosper through hard work and integrity, and that we can surmount any obstacle because we are somehow better than any other nation in the world. The problem with the Dream is that America is made up of people, not saints or sages, and people tend to be narrow-minded and short-sighted, especially when election time rolls around.
Typically, dreamers get a bad rap when they come up with and voice their ideas. They may be redeemed by history later, but the norm is that they don’t live to see their own redemption. Look at Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sir Isaac Newton. Each of these men were criticized, even reviled during their lifetimes, yet today we honor their vision and are grateful for the changes they brought to our world.
Dreamers tend to be young. Elizabeth I of England was twenty-five years old when she was made queen; Abraham Lincoln began his political career when he was only twenty-three; Henry V was twenty-seven when he was crowned. Albert Einstein, by comparison, was an old man when he wrote his landmark theories of gravitation and relativity; he was in his thirties at the time.
So what does all this have to do with an election? Plenty!
A keystone of Barack Obama’s campaign is that we, the people of America, can put an end to the reign of fear-mongering and divisiveness that has become the hallmark of conservatism. His catch phrases are things like, “Together We Can,” and “I’m asking you to believe…” His message is hope and inspiration, which I find a refreshing change after years of terror and paranoia, much of it trumped up in order to grab more power from the people and consolidate it in the administration.
But if he does win in November, Obama will have a hard fight ahead of him. He challenges the establishment, and his calls for change give them cause to fear. He is criticized for his lack of experience, but what his opponents really worry about is that fact that he’s not part of their good-ole-boy network. His plans are called idealistic and unworkable. Well, folks said similar things to the Founding Fathers about the whole notion of becoming our own independent nation. He has been compared to John F. Kennedy, and Rev. Martin Luther King, and called a dreamer by fans and foes alike.
So why is it bad to be a dreamer?
Dreamers founded this nation. Dreamers sent us to the Moon. Dreamers ended Apartheid. Dreamers gave women the vote. Dreamers set our slaves free. Dreamers invented the automobile. And lightbulbs. And computers. And cell phones. And iPods.
So again I ask, why is it bad to be a dreamer?
There is, of course, a very good reason. Dreamers really do bring about change. They upset the balance of power, and even if the new balance is better in the end, the process of ending old habits and destroying old beliefs is painful and traumatic. People lose jobs, homes, and lives when things change. It cannot be helped. But the alternative, stagnation, will ultimately cause those same losses. It’s just a matter of time.
I wish I could look into my crystal ball and tell you that Barack Obama was guaranteed to win in November, and that his administration would rival that of the Kennedy’s Camelot in the annals of History, bringing about the resurgence of hope and prosperity for all Americans. Unfortunately, my crystal ball is cracked, so I keep it unplugged.
I do know this: John McCain may claim to be an agent of change, but he’s been a part of the problem for over a quarter-century. No matter what he says, he’s a known quantity and he will only perpetuate our decline into debt and dread. He has no new solutions, only old scripts that read like yesterday’s soaps.
I do honor the man for his years of service, and the sacrifices he has made for our country. But that’s not enough for him to win my vote. I want to believe that we can rise above this darkness, that we can come together as a nation in greatness without using war as a catalyst for unity. Barack Obama speaks to that hope, and so I speak in support of him.
I guess that means people will call me a dreamer, too.
~B~