Man, I Wish This Guy Was Conservative

I am not a Barack Obama supporter.

In fact, it is safe to assume that I disagree with almost every facet of his platform. To a conservative like me, he is the most frightening kind of liberal progressive. Some of the ideals he supports are great, but the means by which he believes we ought to pursue them are not.

He is the kind of politician that scares me for the future - my own and my children's. I do not believe that the status-quo is the way things should go, but I truly and firmly believe that if Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton are elected that the "change" that they pursue, while they cannot possibly inflict permanent damage to our country, will produce long term global damage that could take generations to fix.

I do not intent to make this a long list of reasons not to vote for the democrats this year. The reason why I am writing any of this is to make sure that my readers (all 5 of you) understand where I am coming from when I make the following statement:

This was the single greatest political speech I have ever read.

Never before have I felt like a politician actually 'got it' and truly understood the country that he is attempting to lead and represent in the world. Granted, there are several paragraphs towards the end of the speech that made me cringe rather violently, but if half of this speech is actually how Obama understands this nation (as opposed to merely his speech writers understanding) - then he really does get it.

And if I may interject some theological analysis, the reason that this speech was so powerful is because he hit on some universal and biblical truths that will resonate with every human being.

- He drew out an oft suppressed reality that everyone can be both racially compassionate and hateful, depending on the context. (I would draw this out beyond race as well, but that is the context of the speech) All men have the capacity for 'good' (humanly speaking), but are all the more so plague by the strong capacity for evil (sinful nature).

- He focused on the fact that in spite of our overall human tendencies toward shunning 'otherness', it is only together that we can truly change. This is, in a very simplistic and Spirit-stripped nutshell, the doctrine of the Church. It is only as we sharpen one another under the gracious workings of the Holy Spirit, in the family/community of His people (the Church, His body of which He is the head), that we can ever hope to 'change' (read: become more holy).

- This is not theological, but he did something I'm not sure anyone has ever done publicly before: He spoke intelligently and correctly for both sides of the race issue and in a way that will help the other side to see and understand, even empathize, with their counterparts.

I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with this particular speech, and also with the Obama campaign on the whole. I am monumentally impressed with his integrity in dealing with his attackers, his graciousness towards them in how he responds, and his overall demeanor. He seems truly genuine and like an incredible man, someone I would love to get to know and converse with.

Now I just wish I could vote for him...............


****UPDATE****

I made myself watch it on YOUTUBE...

Not as impressive as reading it... my imagination of Obama is better than the real thing. but feel free to judge for yourself: