Portrait of an epic victory

[babylonsister]

http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/2008_11_09_Portrait_Of_An_Epic_Victory/

Portrait of an epic victory
By Peter Gelzinis
Sunday, November 9, 2008



I was 18 when Robert Kennedy was assassinated.

Since that awful June night, I’ve struggled to imagine how it would have felt if Bobby lived to complete his improbable quest.

On Tuesday night, after 40 years, I found out.

snip//

Obama transcended race, and that was profound, but so too was his resurrection of hope as a viable political force. For the last eight years we’ve been led to believe that hope was the domain of all those liberal wimps bundled under the hackneyed label of “moonbats.”

Those of us old enough to remember what a glimpse of hope felt like four decades ago, when the war in Vietnam was joined by a race war here at home, had wondered if we would ever come to experience that feeling again.

Grownup conservatives like George Bush and Dick Cheney have left us with a stock market in tatters. We’re embroiled in two wars, the auto industry teeters on bankruptcy, 10 million Americans are out of work . . . and yet, we are filled with hope.

It’s no wonder we keep reaching for the parallels of the Kennedy brothers, or Martin Luther King Jr., or FDR to come to grips with what happened last Tuesday night.

Obama has reminded us that hope, coupled with a brilliant strategic effort, could trump fear, smear tactics, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and even a middle name like Hussein.

Two years ago, he may well have been the only presidential candidate who truly believed that a campaign could evolve into a movement. Tuesday night, more than half the country came to believe it as well.

[uppityperson]

1. I was 14 and I agree. k&r

[texpatriot2004]

2. An epic victory it was. nm

[Window]

3. Nicely written.

:kick:

[sorrybushisfromtexas]

4. So much like my story

I was 19 and just out of High School when Kennedy was killed. I have remained an outspoken, much-maligned liberal voice in the sea of conservatives that is North Texas. I have worked, hoped, and prayed for a turn from right winged policies. I have remained an enigma, a liberal Southern Baptist deacon, in a state where my Christianity has been doubted, and have been told by many, you can not be a believer if you vote Democratic. I am so proud of what my country did last Tuesday night. I am also saddened by the states that voted against civil rights for all citizens. I had a call from my 40 year old nephew who happens to be gay. He was so hopeful that the citizens of California would do the right thing. They didn't, and I wonder why. However, something happened last week when a very diverse group of patriots did the right thing and elected President Obama. Thank you America for doing what I didn't think would happen in my life time, elect a Black American president.


Go Obama!!!!


an aging 60's dreamer
I am sorrybushisfromtexas

[stevedeshazer]

7. Good post

Hang in there brother, a lot of us are right there with ya.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. off to the greatest page with you..

[autorank]

6. I see the Obama - Kennedy Connection k*r

Let's hope for the very best. It's such a relief to see people turn away from
total ignorance, self congratulatory ignorance.