I am almost politically intrigued

I really have been disconnected from politics in this nation for quite some time. Over a decade, really. I am not fully in a go-get-'em mode yet, but I am starting to feel like there might be a large group of people who are coming to their senses about what is really going on and what needs to be done to make this nation change for the good.

The DNC has been good. Speeches have been good. I've heard people complain that there was not a lot of coverage on the regular channels, but I stuck with PBS where they did not talk over any of the speakers, including the regular people who came on to share their personal stories.

Today's speech by Senator Obama was good. He touched on some good issues and really went after the whole putting America and Americans first.

I have often been told that in order to know how to proceed you have to look at what your enemies/opponents are doing. After the speech, I was feeling quite touched. Then I felt like I wanted to see what the enemy would say to twist this positivity into some negative shit.

So I turned to Fox News Channel.

Bret Hume and Juan Williams piss me off all the time and they did not fail today. I was actually shocked that they had some people on their who actually seemed to approve the Senator's speech. But then they went back to the commentators who could spin anything into some way to put down Senator Obama and try to diminish the emotions of the people who were in attendance.

That's why I stick with PBS and NPR's mostly unbiased news reporting.

But they will not hold him down. I'm not by any means saying that he is a perfect candidate. There are some issues that I hope he considers and reconsiders for the sake of this nation. But he is the best viable option. And he is way better than the other main candidate.

And all on the anniversary of the day when 45 years ago the government told its secretaries to stay home so they would not get raped by the African Americans; when they shut down all the liquor stores for fear that they would incite more violence; when they canceled two professional baseball games for fear of attacks on the white attendants -- all so that there would not be any chance for violence. They were worried about severe violence at a non-violent assembly by people who had records of non-violence in their previous gatherings (well not completely non-violent since the cops and others who came to oppose them attacked them and sprayed them with water hoses and put out the dogs). Forty-five years ago today Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech today. Some felt that he should have touched on this more in his speech today, but I feel that was not necessary. It was acknowledged in their picking of today for his acceptance speech. It has been acknowledged by all the news media.

Another historical note: yesterday would have been Lyndon B. Johnson's 100th birthday. He was the president who signed a lot of the civil rights legislation into action.

I am still a bit apprehensive about what will happen in November. There are a lot of people who support what Obama says, but will not vote for him based on his race for the most part because of his race.

Oh, yeah. My buddy KBO posted a great explanation about choosing to be liberal in this day and age on her blog. Check it out. It only makes sense. Being a person who cares about yourself and the people around you does not make you crazy. You do not have to be a super conservative republican to believe in Jesus. But it is also strange to support some of the contradictory beliefs of the party such as being against abortion but not caring about the children who ARE born -- the ones who have families that can't afford to take care of them. I have had numerous students who have been homeless or lived in crazy family situations and it hurts that they are not cared for by the government.

Be accountable for your choices. And care about more than just yourself.