Well, I don’t blame you.  The question from the IOC that was the ‘writing on the wall’…how was the US going to deal with foreigners wanting to enter the US for the Olympics?  Yes, we are much more locked down since 9/11. 

Oh, and honestly, South America has NEVER…yes, NEVER had the Summer Olympics on their continent.  Yes, CON-TI-NENT!  Yikes – how do you compete with that?  We’re still shaking from the bombing in Atlanta in 1996!

Anyway, there will be another time for the Summer Olympics.  Besides, 2020…that sounds way better than 2016.

Election night was great.  It still amazes me how close the race was.  I told folks leading into election night, ‘If the Democrats can’t win this election, they can’t ever win and they will need to regroup.’  Well, I’m happy they won.

I’m looking forward to the Obama administration.  I can’t imagine what he’s thinking and the stress he’s going through.  Bless him and his family — talk about the all time pressure job!

(More to come…I hope.)

 ”So, you’re an Obama fan”

“Yes,” I replied. 

Then he continued to tell me how he is really into politics this year.  He has never voted until this year.  I’m not sure how old he is, but I’d guess in his 40s.  Either way, it’s exciting to hear just in natural conversation in my daily life with people the excitement in politics.  I hope this continues.

 It makes me think – what happened?  What happened to our belief in one another.  Where did we turn wrong?  There are many opinions, but we should all remember this vision and our belief that we will not be dominated, we will not be attacked and we will not stand for the inhumane attacks of our citizens on our soil. 

How we go about this is up for debate.

 But in the end, we are one people, one America and we must stand together and support all our citizens in freedom, justice and safety.

My dental hygienist who was cleaning my teeth mentioned that she was flossing and watching the debate.  (This was her wonderful way of saying you don’t just have to floss your teeth when you brush your teeth, do it when you’re watching TV, it’s not such an inconvenience then!)  Well, that started us down the road of discussing politics.

Now, let me give you some background about this lady.  She’s around 50 years old, she has a daughter in college, and she and her husband are working hard to pay the tuition of their daughter.  She has never been involved in politics, but Senator Barack Obama inspires her and makes her believe that change will occur. 

Well, as we discussed the caucus, we both shared the same story.  It was both of our first caucus, both of us are excited and motivated by this year’s election, and both have a deep and dedicated belief in the change that can happen in America with Barack Obama as our President. 

As she said, “I can just feel it, I can feel the change in my heart.  It’s just so exciting to see all these young people motivated.”

Yes, it is exciting to see young people motivated and being involved in their local government, but it’s not just young people that Senator Barack Obama motivates, it’s all generations of people that have felt like something has to change.  We finally have a voice that can win not only the presidential Democratic nomination, but can actually become the President of the United States. 

For such a long time this lady didn’t involve herself in politics, and finally someone has come along and given her a voice, given her belief and hope for our future as a nation — and yes, I agree.  A 27 year old male and a woman in her 50s could see eye to eye – could see that our nation does have hope to become compassionate, caring and fair for all of its citizens.  And as I got up to leave she smiled at me and said, “Ryan, it seems like we have known each other for such a long time.”  Yes, yes it does.  When people believe in the common good for others, and believe that the future can be bright and prosperous for all people, then they can unite around a common goal and can establish a trust and belief in one another that cannot be broken and can make each other believe that ‘I have known you for a long time.”

As I walked into the meeting room I had a sudden observation to those that were at the meeting – a good majority were older citizens.  Now, I’m not sure the reason for this – and we can all hypothesize why, but this will be part of my thinking moving forward.  What makes the older generation more involved in the local politics?  Well, at least in this district organization.  A fascinating obvious observation that has deeper meaning I’m sure.

 Throughout the meeting I purposely took a ‘sponge’ role – I wanted to listen, observe and understand how the group worked and the issues they discussed.  I was pleased to listen to the various opinions on topics such as super delegates, caucus vs. primary and ‘what issue matters most to you in your community’.  It was also fascinating to listen to the different candidates that are running for election in 2008.  Judges, state senate – these are the people that putting their name on the line, their income on the line – to earn and maintain the faith and understanding of the people….that’s great! 

In the end, I left excited and motivated to continue this journey.  I kept my PCO application in my folder, but after a nights sleep, I woke up and confirmed my intuition, I want to be my local PCO.  As I go through that process I’ll keep you updated.

As my wife and I walked into the bar to meet our friends the owner behind the bar shouted, “Hey, welcome, what would you like to drink?”

“That’s a sign of a great bartender,” I replied back.

After ordering our drinks, the owner/bartender asks, “So, who did you vote for?”

A little surprised initially at the direct question as to what is thought of as a ‘personal’ or ‘private’ matter, I was also pleased that he felt he could ask me with even a couple of his customers seating at the bar.  (See my previous post commenting on how more and more people seem to be speaking about politics this year.  I think it’s great – I’m a perfect example!)

“Obama.  Definitely, Obama,” I replied.

Well, I sat there for a minute or two explaining why Senator Obama should be the next President of the United States, and he shared his ideas.  But, the most surprising moment happened as I walked away from the bar to join my group.

 ”Words mean nothing.”

I about turned around and asked them if they really thought what they said.

Words mean nothing…

I couldn’t imagine that someone would say that.  As I glanced around I found out that it was one of the patrons sitting at the bar that had said that.  Now, he might have been speaking about Senator Obama (that’s my best guess), or he might have been on an entirely different topic.  But, the fact that the thought, ‘Words mean nothing’ was surprising.

If we think about the use of ‘words’ in the US history, I think we will find that words in fact has a lot of meaning.  Think about when we fought for our independence from Britain — do you think the words they said, and the words that we said in our fight for freedom had meaning?  And what about the civil rights era?  There were definitely words mentioned then that had meaning. 

As I thought more about this statement I began to think about the power of words.  (I wrote about this briefly in a previous post.)  How do we use words in our daily life that cause responses?  When someone hurts me I could say hateful words to express my emotions that could cause them to not only hate me, but act out against me.  Or, I could decide to use thoughtful, descriptive words to express my feelings that could help that person to understand and sympathize with my feelings. 

While I think I understand the meaning behind the comments of ‘Words mean nothing’…that we must eventually produce results…I think the power of words and speech is drastically underestimated in this world.  Words can motivate, words can inspire.  On the other hand, words can hurt and words can cause pain.  It’s how we choose to frame our words and express ourselves that matters greatly…and something that we should never disregard.

I had an interesting experience last night.  My wife and I had dinner with her parents and her two grandmothers.  Sitting around the table enjoying our dinner, we wandered from various topics.  Our upcoming vacations, what we’ve been doing lately, what our plans our for the weekend – then, suddenly the topic of the 2008 election came up.

Ding!

It’s as if the bell rang and into the middle of the ring came everyone.  Now, this was not a hostile debate by any means, but it was full of passion and opinions.  And on a day that is supposed to be about love and beauty, should politics really enter the conversation? 

I think what I’ve discovered is that ‘yes’, it should be in the conversation.  Politics and the issues surrounding our community and our country cannot be a topic that we are scared to talk about with family, friends and our community.  If we never talk about it, how are we ever supposed to make a difference?  If we never talk about it, how can we ever grow as independent thinking people with well rounded opinions and beliefs? 

 By being able to engage people in these discussions and making sure ALL parties feel respected during AND after everything is said and done, we can assure that are constantly pushing and challenging our beliefs and we will be more able to address the issues and challenges in our life at home, in the community and abroad. 

And if we can do this on Valentine’s Day – we’re all the more better for it.

When Hillary spoke she mentioned many of the specific programs she wants to impose as President of the United States.  Raise minimum wage, universal health care, energy independence.   While her speech is now more inspirational, it is still full of policy and lacking the true inspiration and belief that I feel American are looking for in a candidate.

Now, contrast that with Barack’s speech.  What did Barack speak about?  Barack spoke about the “American Dream”: fairness to the economy, health care, reform social security, increased teacher pay, education that is comprehensive in all aspects, college tuition credit for students that invest in their country and TOGETHER AMERICA WILL MOVE FORWARD.  THAT IS OUR CALLING IN THIS CAMPAIGN. 

While he mentions his policy plans, he weaves those into poetic and uplifting phrases and stories.  By allowing me to see this quick contract of speeches, it made me wonder, what is the purpose of speech?  Then I realized it’s for whatever you want it to be.  Some speeches are to ‘educate’.  Some speeches are to ‘motivate’.  Others speeches are to ‘question’. 

In the end, I think Obama’s method for speeches is most effective.  We need a leader in this nation that can motivate the masses.  And as he says, we need to evoke change from the bottom up.  With powerful words and motivational messages, this can be accomplished.

Some will criticize that he is not supplying enough information about how he will accomplish these things.  All someone needs to do is visit his website and they can access all his agenda items in complete detail. 

Senator Obama uses the various resources he has (speeches, website, books) to spread his entire message.  But, what I think he does great, is use the proper resource for the proper message.