“And so, at 11 o'clock AM on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race as though they were adults.”

        Leave it to a fake news show to concisely say what the most aware of us were thinking. When Jon Stewart, commenting on Barack Obama’s landmark speech on race in America, uttered that statement during a segment on The Daily Show, he summed up

for me in one sentence why Obama should be our next president – he believes in America. He understands our problems and realizes that the only way we can solve them is together. He does this while still coming off as intelligent and sincere. 

       Nobody is suggesting that he has all the answers – least of all Obama himself. But something about the way he talks to people inspires them to believe. Rich and poor, young and old, educated and ignorant; black, white, and brown (yellow if you have jaundice). Never in my lifetime have I seen anything like it. He is by far the smartest, most articulate (yikes!), charismatic person I’ve ever seen run for public office. Is he the most experienced candidate? No, but I think politics is the one arena where experience is what we SHOULDN’T look for. George Bush is experienced. You wouldn’t vote for him for president, would you? Oh wait…

            We’re in a low period as a country right now. As a planet really, but let’s keep the focus on us for now. We’re in a war that, whether or not you agree it was justified, has no discernible end in sight. Our economy continues to falter to the point where our currency is worth HALF that of Europe. Oil, still unfortunately our main source of energy, is at record high prices and rising consistently. This means, of course, that our morally immaculate friends at the oil companies (AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!) are making record-setting profits. Health care ACTUALLY costs an arm and a leg. The word border is actually a placeholder for welcome. Oh, and by the way, our planet’s temperature is rising at an unprecedented pace, mostly due to our need to drive a Hemi (love you Jon Reep). Yet despite all these things, Obama continues to believe that we have the power to pull ourselves out of the

mess we’re in. Maybe you believe him, as I do, or maybe you don’t. But if you don’t, then what’s the point of voting at all?

            Maybe the cynics are right. Perhaps Obama isn’t qualified to be the president yet. Maybe he needs more time in the senate so he can see ‘how things work.’ This way he’ll be ready to answer the phone at 3 a.m. Or maybe, just this once, we can vote for the person who makes us believe that if we get off our collective asses, we can actually make something happen. We can start to walk the walk. Or we can continue to play it safe with Clinton or McCain. How safe do you feel?

I Wanna Be An Adult