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Three years ago, last night, I was halfway between New Orleans and Dallas, fleeing, for the first time, a hurricane. My wife and three of our children and more things than I can recount were stuffed into a '98 Corolla on what should have been its last legs. Like tens of thousands, we didn't know what the city would look like - would there even be a city? I kept saying to my wife, we're going back, we're going back, we'll rebuild. If we leave, it will be because we want to, not because we're forced out. I lost my job, my father lost what was left of his mind to Alzheimer's, New Orleans lost its dignity, thousands lost their lives, America - not America, government - lost its conscience.
The drowning of New Orleans was a cheat. It shouldn't have happened. It was one of the greatest thefts of the last 8 years - like two elections, like 9/11, like Mission Accomplished.
But New Orleans taught America a lesson. The City that supposedly Care Forgot taught America how to care. It exemplified, as if by foresight, Obama's message of individual responsibility and mutual responsibility. As a symbol, the return of the Saints to the Superdome - it was more than a game, but like sports in general, an analogy of life - it was more than symbol, it was the restoration of the spirit of the city, of America itself.
Last night, at home, over the Internet, I watched Barack Obama's acceptance speech. We cry at transitions - at deaths (JFK, the first national leader I mourned), at weddings (Come Together moments), at births. Four years ago, the Republican party, or rather, the usurpers of the Republican party, lying hypocrites, performed an illegal abortion on America.
Last night, we witnessed the birth of the next generation of America.
Three years ago today, after about 19 straight hours on the road, at about 6 AM, we arrived at my brother's house in Dallas. There we watched New Orleans drown - rather, we watched George Bush and John McCain celebrate their drowning of New Orleans with birthday cake.
Today, I watch the news to see if I'll have to leave home again - temporarily.
But this time, to quote our next president, this time is different. There is no need for defiant resolve, for we are, again as Obama put it, "in this together."
I'm not worried about Gustav or what follows. Of course I'll take precautions and be safe. But I'm not worried.
The storms in the gulf give way to the work of bridging the gulfs.
The hurricane at sea has not the force of the hurricane in my heart.
Thank you, Barack Obama.
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