Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope is well worth reading—and that sentence itself is an understatement. The book contains nothing surprising—Obama comes across as a downright, unabashed, old-fashioned librul (as Stereoman would say), but most everyone has already figured that out. But he also comes across as a caring, thoughtful man. (Yes, I'm voting for him, and if he wins, I hope I'm not horribly disappointed.)
Let's do specifics.
1) At one point Obama describes the "ideological core of today's GOP" as "no government beyond what's required to protect private property and provide for the common defense." (page 37) I found that description interesting because I recently finished reading The Federalist Papers (yes, eventually I'll do a review) and can see them being so interpreted. I disagree, but Obama's words and The Federalist Papers, IMHO, make understandable some views of the true conservatives.
2) I found Obama to be fair-minded. "… our democracy might work a bit better if we recognized that all of us possess values that are worthy of respect." (page 57) Now I ask: have any of you ever gotten even an inkling that President Bush respects any views besides his own or those held by his sycophants?
3) Obama describes his emotional response to losing an early campaign. "They're the sorts of feelings that most people haven't experienced since high school, when the girl you'd been pining over dismissed you with a joke in front of her friends, or you missed a pair of free throws with the big game on the line—the kinds of feelings that most adults wisely organize their lives to avoid." (page 107) We do, don't we? I know that except for sending out my writing to be rejected, I sure do.
4) Interesting: "In a 2003 poll, most Indonesians had a higher opinion of Osama bin Laden than they did of George W. Bush." (page 278) Question: think only Indonesians hold that opinion?
5) The core of Obama's foreign policy appears diametrically opposed to that of George w. Bush's. "When the world's sole superpower willingly restrains its power and abides by internationally agreed-upon standards of conduct, it sends a message that these rules are worth following, and robs terrorists and dictators of the argument that these rules are simply tools of American imperialism." (page 309) Ah. Signs of an inner, quiet strength. A quality devoutly to be wished.
6) And, finally, I've saved the most personal response for last. Obama describes the first time he saw the White House. "I marveled not at the White House's elegant sweep, but rather at the fact that it was so exposed to the hustle and bustle of the city; that we were allowed to stand so close to the gate …. The openness of the White House said something about our confidence as a democracy, I thought. It embodied the notion that our leaders were not so different from us; that they remained subject to our laws and common consent. (pages 43-44) He then describes Pennsylvania Avenue now. And how is that personal? As many of you know, I grew up, mostly, in a suburb of DC. That meant frequent trips downtown. Also, as many of you have probably figured out, my disability has curtailed travel. (Oh, I'd probably still travel, but my husband would kill me. Traveling is thus fraught with danger—in many ways.) So I now remember the open DC Obama describes, and—believe it or not—as actual benefit of the advancing MS is that I don't have to see the barricaded DC that now exists.
