Reflections on a convention

[mom cat]

Something has happened at this convention, something i thought I would not live to see in my lifetime. Maybe necessity is the mother of invention. Maybe we got so mad at or sick and tired of Bushco, or who knows what, but in a very imperfect human way we have come together to forge ahead to change our destiny. Have we arrived? No. far from it, but we have arrived at the starting gate. From where I have been, it's like a new universe. I grew up in an extremely bigoted family where slurs against everyone who was not just like us peppered everyday conversation and fear based rage was the main source of empowerment. Fast forward forty years to tonight. People from everywhere, from all classes, races, religions and/or lack thereof, ages, sizes. and backgrounds came together to say openly and proudly things that would have gotten them lynched or shot or run out of town on the rail had they even whispered them in my home town. People who wouldn't have been allowed to eat together, pray together or sit together in the same delegation were now dancing to each others music, celebrating together, and doing it with such obvious joy and enthusiasm that it broke down even my cynicism. It was a declaration of independence, a declaration of hope, and an audacious challenge to the powers that be saying "we dare to risk being open, we dare to risk reaching out to others across just about every boundary that I had drilled into me as a kid. Will we succeed? I don't know what will happen in the long run. But at least now I feel that there is hope. Today we have a better chance to save this beautiful planet from our own greed and stupidity. Today we have a chance to start stopping war and today we have a better chance of developing a humane planet for all of us, not just for the self selected few. We have a big mess to clean up, and it would be a lot easier to sit on the sidelines like the tired media pundits and throw cynical brickbats at the other side, disparaging hope and undermining all solutions before they get off the ground. But these crazy Johns are daring us to do better than that. The task ahead is daunting, but it always has been. I think however that we have a shot at it, the best shot I have seen in my life. Count me in.

[Richard D]

1. Excellent!

I've been thinking the same things. Many people who I've talked to in the last couple of days are also feeling hope for the first time in a while. Quite inspiring.

[mom cat]

4. Thanks for the encouragement. .If even a fraction of the energy

tthat I saw tonight takes hold when these delegates get back home, we could be looking at a landslide.

[countmyvote4real]

2. Thank you for that. You can count me in, too.

And to avoid those cynical brickbats, the convention is best viewed on C-SPAN.

[mom cat]

3. That is where I watched it too. It was beautiful to see all of the

ordinary people not silenced by the lame pundits whose schtik has become a big part of the problem. Besides, the pundits on DU are a lot better anyway.