We ran a call Saturday night for a pedestrian struck by a car. Riding up front with me was rookie young woman about my daughters age. When I pulled up I could see the guy was DRT ( dead right there)before I even had the air brake on. I was concerned how the rookie would react, as she had never seen a dead body before. When I asked her later how she felt she said something profound: " He was dead when I met him". I think that for young people voting for the first time this year, perhaps the old racist Rovian politics of hate and fear will be dead to them at the beginning of their relationship with politics. Perhaps they, more than my generation, will begin to imagine an America free from the same old arguments about race and culture and religion; and will begin to let our politics reflect something more real. I have felt for a long while that politicians are like Tee Vee news readers. Blow dried hair, fake smiles, stupid cliches, and 100% bullshit for content. I think Obama is more of a post modern politician. In the same way that the best performers have transcended the old rules that resulted in a hundred guys named Sonny or Biff reading sports and weather on the air, Obama has jumped over the old ideas about who can be an American leader, and what the conversation can be about.
We are going to turn a new page tomorrow, so tonight I offer a prayer for the safety and health of Barak Obama and his family, and send to heaven my petition: if an exit pollster asks some 19 or 20 year old about the old wedge issues, that young man or woman can respond by saying "That's all in the past..."
No comments:
Post a Comment