There Is No "I" In Teamwork

-by Mags

Thank goodness that the circus known as the GOP convention is over. Just to prove I was a good citizen and an all around fair individual, I tried to watch the entire John McCain speech. I really did. The lies and self-congradulations were coming fast and furious. Clearly John McCain and Sarah Palin are just a notch below Jesus Christ, but a notch above Superman.
 
So sucessful is Barack Obama's message of change and hope that John McCain and Sarah Palin have tried to highjack it for the right wing. I say try, because... let's be completely honest. They know nothing about either hope or change. In usual fashion, the GOP message is not sincere, but spin. As a person who has been paying attention, I have seen nothing in McCain Senate votes or campaign message that points to change. How could I keep from laughing when he talked about taking on the DC machine when his team is filled with DC K Street lobbyists? How can McCain put country first when his advisors are working for foreign nations? Even more laughable...how can he tout hope when he promises to do the same things that put us in the predicament that we are in now?
 
More to the point, here is the basic and obvious difference between McCain Palin and Obama Biden. When John McCain or Sarah Palin speak, their speeches are full of "I" "I" "I." They never tire of telling us what they have done. Even though most of it is not true or is spun beyond recognition, that is not the point. If one focuses on what they are saying, and I challenge you to try, all they hear is about how they personally are prepared to save us all.
 
Let me contrast this with the message of Barack Obama. His message is "Yes WE can." Get that? Barack Obama talks about how change begins from the bottom up while John McCain tallked about change from the top down. So incapable of understanding populism is the GOP that they cannot even mimick it in any believable sense.
 
I am sure the accusations that Obama has a messiah complex will continue to come from the right, but even a superficial analysis will prove that Barack Obama does not claim to be the one who can change America. Barack Obama tells us WE can change America.
 
Sarah Palin has no problem stepping right up to harp on the same message; according to her she has singlehandedly changed the face of Alaska. She is ready to change us too. I am not sure how that will work since what she did was bring DC excess and influence to Alaska. Joe Biden has been a real servant of the people here and even though he has had presidential ambitions, he continues to legislate for the common person and for women.
 
Ok, for many John McCain is a hero. Me? Well, I don't care too much for heroes. I just have never seen the value in that. From where I sit, we must all be the heroes of our own lives. As for leadership, I see no reason why we cannot all work to promote change and to discuss our destinies. I do not need John McCain for a hero. I do not like Sarah Palin as a person nor do I like her politics. I abhor her policies where women are concerned. People need an individual who has power and influence who will listen to them. They do not need a hero who promises to solve all their problems. That is what Obama is telling us. Yes we can! The we, the us, we can.
 
Those who believe in heroes and who crave a strong leader who will do it for them enable those who would con them. Those who will con them out of their incomes, their retirements, their jobs, and their homes. John McCain who has waited in the shadows for his share of the lobbyist corporatist pie is the Johnny come lately who now arrives on the scene with the promises that the sheep among us clamor to believe. As for Obama supporters, we are busy working to organize capable people in neighborhoods around the country. We invite people to tell us what they need how they wish to see their lives changed for the better. Barack Obama cannot fix anything by executive fiat, and neither can John McCain. But, only Barack Obama is telling you that. He is being honest, he says change and salvation comes from ourselves and will come from the bottom up. I say we embrace complexity and roll up our sleeves to help solve our problems. I say, "Yes we can!"