Cheat on your taxes, misrepresent your qualifications and even your name, brand someone a socialist with no cause, and agree publicly with someone who says an Obama victory means death to Israel and, hey, fame and fortune await you. That’s the moral of the story of Joe the Plumber, who now has an agent and a potential career in country western music.
This is not the American Dream at all. This is the reverse. It shows that hard work, qualifications, honesty and respect finish a distant second place to being a shameless self promoter.
Thankfully, it looks like Obama — someone who truly did lift himself out of humble beginnings — will not be laid low by redneck reactionaries like Joe the Plumber. Indeed, it looks like he is about to become one of the most powerful men on the planet. And I couldn’t be happier. For all that some on the left may say that Obama can’t deliver the real change America needs — i.e. a total overthrow of the current system — I would answer that Obama is about the best person one could possibly imagine in the White House at this time.
For the first time in my life, a major western democracy will be led by somebody who is genuinely inspirational. Also, it goes without saying, that a black president signals a sea change in politics. It won’t mean another Hurricane Katrina fiasco can’t or won’t happen, but it will represent such powerful hope, such a powerful promise, that I think America and the world might never be quite the same again.
Let’s not forget that Obama is also an academic. When was the last time an academic was sitting in the White House? He was president of the Harvard Law Review, for God’s sakes, and was a university instructor for many years. If elected, he is going to be a leader who is equipped to think seriously and grasp the complexity of the problems he faces. By all accounts, he is not someone who acts rashly. He takes wise counsel, can see multiple sides to arguments, and has the eloquence to convince people once his mind is made up. In short, he represents the polar opposite of the black-and-white, with-us-or-against-us, divisive and horribly ill-considered approach of the current administration.
I am inspired by Obama! I do believe those that say that this is a man who seeks to bring out the best in people. As hard as he’s fought this campaign (and the one against Clinton), as much mud as he has thrown, he has nevetheless observed a certain level of decorum that his opponents neither expected or deserved. Obama retained his respectful and positive message because he knew it was what was so sorely needed in America.
I will be watching next Tuesday’s election from beginning to end. I don’t care that I need to hustle for more work and can hardly afford the time off. There’s plenty more time for hustling between now and then, and after then. For once, there is a great moment in history coming, and it’s not going to be a tragedy.
