Ok, so I was raised with this whole thing we guard our politics like our secret shame(and given that I was raised as the pinkest pinko in Pinkonia in a state famous for bursting Goldwater love, maybe it was), but I've loved this statement of Obama's on disability since I saw it on Livejournal.

The link includes an editorial written by Barak Obama published on July 26th, the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Obama recounts the experience of his wife's father who had MS, the challenges it posed to the family and his determination to continue working and providing for his family.

If anything, given the transportation situation or the job situation many people with disabilities are facing right now, his lines about the woman with the disability getting to her job are doubly over-optimistic. But far from those people who deride Obama's soaring rhetoric as "pretty words" without systemic value, I'd say that words are important. Words shape opinions and give voice to ideas. You can't have anything if the idea doesn't exist for you, and I've been very unhappy with the dark, grasping, America that 9/11 has left us with, with one finger on the security alarm and the other on the television remote. This isn't the country I grew up believing in, not that I think Obama can reverse all that with one stroke of his pen. But I think he has the potential to personify a new movement toward wholeness and growth for our nation. Maybe it's because he got my mother to care about a politician's fortunes for the first time since RFK's assassination, or maybe it's all the fresh-faced new voters giving up their time to volunteer. He noticed us. Really noticed us, as other than one optimistic poster child chosen to represent the American spirit by opening wide for her shit sandwiches and saying "Yum, yum." I'm excited about that. Even though part of me knows that the Illinois senator is a very bright person, and it doesn't only take heart to want to win over millions of untapped voters. But maybe, this time, somebody actually got it right.
Yes, we can.

I admit I'm one of Those People, who, when I hear an Olbermann Special Comment, I want to either hit the streets protesting or kiss a random stranger. Maybe both, if it's early. Your mileage may vary.

I definitely feel that enough is enough and that we can not afford another four years of Republican rule in our country. We need the leadership and commitment that I see in Obama.

One request, if you hate what I've posted, don't take it out on Tikva and her site. She's an online acquaintance who would not appreciate my bringing kerfuffles to her yard. Thank you.

Erika