History

I just finished listening to Obama's speech on NPR. (Today of all days I managed to totally destroy my cable connection somehow while moving furniture I pulled the cable out of the wall and totally destroyed the connector.) But I digress.

I think he hit all notes he had to. I think it was a wonderful speech and the Republicans are probably in trouble next week. Always less compelling than Democrats at convention it will be less so this year; all those old white guys who don't know how to use a computer. Don't know what Blog is shorthand for.

The Obama campaign is ready to hit the ground running tomorrow after tonight's speech. We not only heard that we need to change to this country but how Obama plans to go about creating that change. I did cringe a bit when he mentioned the oxymoronic 'clean coal' and 'safe nuclear power' but it would be asking too much for us to agree on everything.

The platform is one of the most inclusive and most obviously feminist in a long time. As a lesbian I appreciate it; as an unemployed lesbian I loved hearing about equal pay for equal work.

this is just mindblowing for me; i love it (h/t Miss Laura @ dailykos)

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This, too, is part of America's promise -- the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.