Is it 'WE' or Obama who is the one?

Written in the run up to an historic election...

 

Political parties tempt the voters - 'we the people' - with lip service that pulls at our individual heart strings and plays to the masses. They say the words they know will pull us, sway us to them – without completing any pictures that would lead us to the realisation that what they are offering, is small change compared to the status quo they wish to impose.

 

Throughout history our parties have made offerings to the people that would make fools of our ideals and hopes, our dreams and faith in their ability to actually be honest for once and make a clear promise, then carry it out without caveat. They make a right move in our eyes in the right direction – we follow because it feels like they are doing what we wanted all along – and before long we discover that the one step on the right road is accompanied by diversions that will keep us from a right solution for as long as the term dictates.

 

Then next elections we aim to find a voice that will make a promise that we can believe in, that will take more than one step in the right direction, that will have a map with no diversions. The next elections deja vu the last and over time we lose belief, cling to hope and go with what looks like the least diversions-to-right-step ratio – or we stop voting.

 

Obama has promised change, has offered to step in the right direction and take us down his path of right if only we will follow. He has pushed the right buttons, said the right words, sweated the right passion and he has moved us. Is he 'the one'?

 

I don't think that it matters if he is or he isn't.

 

Maybe this time it isn't about the politicians, it's about us.

Maybe this time it isn't about politics, it's about the movement.

 

The fact that we have watched a woman and a black man battle for supremacy on a traditionally white male stage, the fact that passion played a role, the fact that the internet meant politics found its way further, faster and more varied than ever before and the fact that I feel impassioned and compelled to write these things about a stale and often evil subject – are facts that attach true hope to my belief that there is a better way to manage ourselves than the way politics has.

 

In all I have digested of the Obama that is presented, I still don't know how I feel about him or what I believe about him. There is much to choose from on the media menu of Obamas; much unpalatable, some tempting and others simply a mash of confusion with something-for-everyone flavours infused.

 

But the media menu of political choices offers something more than before, it offers unexpected extras that include a whole swathe of people finding points of agreement despite their backgrounds, other opinions or differences. If finds people finding a sameness of desire – we want anything other than the usual. We don't want to play it safe, we want to play it different. Turn us around, switch direction, stuff the assumed right ways and lets blunder into an uncharted wilderness of it-can't-be-as-bad-as-where-we've-been.

 

Obama is whatever it is we wanted him to be – he is not one thing, one direction or one party – he is the reflection of our longing for change. Who he becomes as a leader is a different subject. What he stirred in us is powerful and if we can find a way to harness that power, maybe 'we the people' can start to realise just how much we can change - regardless of the politicians.

Reviews

[Beatrice Boyle (Grandm..]

Powerful as always Tina. It is a puzzlemnet to me, that we the people don't realize the power we have over these politicians!

We sit back, and let them run roughshod over lives, our livelihoods, our hopes for the future...and most importantly recently...watch them trample over our constituion! Oh yes...we complain, then are mollified into a false sense of security, when told these actions "are for our own good!" Greedy officials plunder tax papyer money on pork pie resolutions, constantly break the law "in the name of security" and lead us to war like lambs to the slaugher!

ENOUGH ALL READY! This past election was all about the power of the People! The PEOPLE decided (in a landslide) that they had had enough! Have we forgotten the French Revolution"? I like to think we have evolved enough to not go to the extremes that they did so long ago...and hope we don't suffer the same fate! They got rid of Royal repression all alright...but the smae probems existed under new leaders!

I like what I see and hear about President Obama, but will not crown him our saviour until I see if he will succumb to good ole Washington ole boy pressure. He has so much on his plate now...indeed the fate of the world hangs on his every move, both militarily and financially, so I am holding my breath to see if he can rise above it...stay true to his ideals...and resist the naysayers.

I will give him time to catch his breath...but after that...be assured...I will hold his feet to the fire!!
You know Grandma when she gets her dander up!!!

Bea

P.S. Hows that run for Parliment going???????

[Fairplay]

Obama is not America ?



Who will be your Fall Guy ?
grow up and Blame Yourself
Or just let all Americans
end up on the shelf

You played with easy money
boasted of your power
Then put an Umbrella up
at the final hour

Sent sons and daughters off to war
they weren't' playing games
Living a life in Hollywood
with some actors names

Just stand up and be counted
there is no secret track
Hold the ground that's taken
don't just hand it back

The world is full of double talk
most wish to see you fail
They just want to get their hands
on your Holy Grail

Obama's a Proud American
but talk can be so cheap ?
Folk are watching closely
with ground that's hard to keep

[Wondering Mind]

"Maybe this time it isn't about the politicians, it's about us.
Maybe this time it isn't about politics, it's about the movement."
Maybe it has always been about "us", "we the people" who vote for, elect and then let them get away with ANYTHING afterwards because we are conditioned into believing that this is the way of "Democracy". Only time will tell if "we the people" have learned from the past, especially the last eight years.
A very interesting write.

[RJKT]

Hi Tina

The tale of the two Gandhis ( or "Gandis') might well provide a reality check to pie-in-the-sky utopianism.

The first Mohandas Karamchand catalysed ,and was at the forefront of ,the largest people's movement in human history. However he died a disappointed man -his dreams and ideals all turned to ashes and dashed to dust.

The second Rajivratna Birjees was catapulted ,at the age of 40 ,to supreme power in the world's largest democracy .He came to power, burning with idealism ,and raring to bring enlightenment and prosperity to a benighted behemoth. Mired in feudalism and wracked by obscene poverty and ghastly oppression . However the entrenched vested interests ended up overwhelming him .

If History is anything to go by : the nobler the politician ( a breed hardly renowned for their 'nobility 'anyway ) the harder the fall . And the bitterer the disappointment of all who ,ever so very naively ,put their trust in him . ( Not 'her' - given the sexism rampant among "God's Chosen People").

With regard to the specifics , Eric's comment says it all . The One,who'd already been anointed by the incredibly powerful cabal ( who hold all the levers of money , media and political muscle power in the West ) easily trounced the competition .

The question really is : whether He will end up doing their bidding ; His own bidding . Or the people's bidding.

The old adage "Put not your trust in Princes " is something the star-struck and celebrity-crazed billions keep forgetting.

Could it be because " Hope Springs Eternal in the Human Breast ' keeps trumping it ?

[Fairplay]

Hi Tina

I would like to say

A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.......

or is it trainers tend to give you smelly feet.......

The one who spent the most money won..... and the whole thing turned into an expensive gimmick while the rest of the country .....world...goes broke.

I couldn't do that and keep a straight face....... His senate ultimately has control, not sure who all pull their strings....but I guess it's not those on the poverty line.

Time will tell but I am not holding my breath...how many days and he has broken his own word on Lobbyists.

Eric

[Wildecat]

Only time will tell, he has a lot to deal with, I wish him and this Country the very best, nice write.

[Penelope Allen]

Hello Tina - I think it's wonderful how he chose to go to Washington. Via train with whistle stops along the way. To me - it's a clear message to the people that he wants to be their president. I also cheered - LOUDLY - when he clarified how he will deal with lobbyists. I think the insiders who've made it their business to undermine the voters will find their cozy agreements a thing of the past. He's already made moves to close that absolutely horrid prison which reminds me of archaic methods exercised by those despots of yesteryear. Devil's Island for one. His activities in Washington when he arrived also demonstrated his interests will be more about the voters aka the people. I think too many government reps from any country have forgotten who puts them in office. Almost like they become the elite instead of a voice for those who elected them. It's almost like grass roots politics. I also believe - that he has the courage of his convictions. That is a difficult thing to maintain in the heady environment of Washington. Taking the train .. gotta love it!