¿Si, Se Puede? ¿Verdad?

Interestingly, as BHO begins the roll out of his national campaign, there is one constituency group that apparently is still not feeling the love: Hispanics. This is unacceptable. BHO's campaign staff have moved too slowly on reaching out to this community. I think that it was unwise to let the broader media cede the Hispanic community's support to HRC, but to still continue not addressing this issue is just dumb. And this is not a dumb campaign. BHO is going to need all of the Hispanic support he can get, and if the Hispanic media is not feeling as though they have access and some love, then he will have larger problems as we approach the November election. ¿Si, se puede? Es verdad!

For the Love of Forster

I've decided to make this an E.M. Forster summer for my reading pleasure. I recently started reading (again) A Room With A View, one of my favorite novels of all time. I will also roll through Maurice, Where Angels Fear to Tread and Howard's End. I think I will tackle finally A Passage to India, the only Forster novel I haven't directly engaged in some way. Finally, I am going to read Zadie Smith's On Beauty, which apparently was inspired by Howard's End. I don't think I've ever made a reading list for the summer; things change. If I commit myself to this roster of novels, then I will finish long before summer's end. And that's okay. This will be the year of the self indulgent Edwardian summer.

Y'all About to Get Told

An interesting phenomenon is happening as a result of BHO's ascension to the Democratic nomination: conservatives don't quite know what to say about him to help arrest his momentum in the electorate.

Some of the things that are emerging from Fox News are absolutely hilarious. First, there was the confusion about Michelle Obama giving her man dap before millions. That E.D. Hill of Fox actually pondered whether or not that hip hop/sports gesture of affection was "terrorist fist jab" had me howling out loud. Yet, I don't think she needed to lose her show. I'd much rather that she'd stayed on air for the receipt of proper ridicule from all corners of the media for a nice long time.

To add to the unnecessary drama that Fox News has brought upon itself, the organization decided to try its hand at a true ghetto-ism: referring to a potential First Lady as "Obama's baby mama." Does anyone think that it would have crossed the minds of any news producer to refer to Mrs. McCain in the same way? Now I am sure that some will point out that Michelle Obama has referred to her man as her "baby daddy" in public in the past, but my guess is that the audience would have been in on the joke, and the reference was in fact just that: a joke. I doubt that the Fox producer was going for the humor jugular when he/she put that moniker up.

So, I think we are in for a very interesting media ride as conservatives try to figure out ways to render the Obamas as alien from traditional American culture and values as they possibly can. Essentially, isn't the argument that they are black; therefore, they aren't really American. If conservatives keep up this potential line of argument, they will discover a new (to them) line right out of the handbook of most southern African American grandmothers: y'all about to get told.

Done

I am not quite sure what to say. I am in a state of disbelief, and what a good state it is. BHO knocked off HRC. I quietly hoped that he would pull it off, but I was not quite sure if it could be done. I'll be blunt: I feel so blessed to be an American living right now. BHO may lose in the general election, but the important fact is that he is in the dance. The ghosts of Jefferson, Jackson, FDR and Johnson (Lyndon) must be bemused by the spectre of BHO. I hope that they understand just how far the country they once led has come, particularly Jefferson. I am a happy man tonight. BHO, job well done!

Obama/Webb '08?

Though I know I will write more about this later, I have to say that I am becoming more comfortable with the notion of BHO running with Jim Webb. Now this isn't just Virginia pride coming in (though that is certainly there), but I think that it would be a satisfactorily strategic move on the part of BHO to select a running mate who on the surface seems to be an ill fit. Yet, they could work well together in the end I believe. It would also reflect the range that exists within the 21st century Democratic Party.

Webb's family is from the hardscrabble mountains of Appalachian Virginia. Though it may not move too many of the other denizens of Appalachia (an area that rivals anything that Faulkner imagined in too many cases) to vote for BHO, it would move some, and it would show independents compromise in action.

Militarily, you can't sniff at the former Secretary of the Navy. And he has a son in the war right now, continuing his family's tradition of service. Webb is the ultimate Reagan Democrat, and he reflects how far the GOP has moved away from what he once believed. That is a powerful addendum to the BHO mantra of change. And it just might work.

"The World is Changed"

One of my favorite films is "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," and Cate Blanchett (one of my all time favorite actors) opens the film in dialog. "The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air." Sometimes, I use that quotation to describe my state of mind. Today is no different.

Within my bones, I am aching for changes in my life. I am working toward many of them, and planning to implement the necessaries toward others. Yet, in too many ways, things aren't moving fast enough for me. I am finding myself in an ever increasing mood of melancholy, though I am not quite ready to throw myself a pity party.

Like so many others, I am not satisfied. I am skeptical of taking a leap of faith that seems too far fetched, a leap that will leave me in a circumstance worse than I abandoned. Yet, truth be told, out of those leaps of faith can come confidence in taking the reigns in one's life. It means that one has come to recognize fully when "the world is changed."

Change, positive and progressive, take me now. Let me begin the process of building a new past.

Makes No Sense

I need someone to explain to me just one thing. If BHO and HRC are essentially supportive of the same basic political philosophy, and their policies differ only by degrees, then how can these folks who say that if either candidate they support fails to get the nomination, then they will vote for John McCain? The only thing I can think of that all three candidates share philosophically is lack of support for gay marriage (which is a shame in and of itself, but something I can live with) and the allowance to let states decide that issue individually.

Ultimately, since it appears that BHO will get the nod, I really want HRC supporters to explain their potential support of McCain. That shift makes no sense to me.