I submitted this to a Brickfish campaign -- it can be found here, and I've also posted it below for your reading pleasure. Please go to the site and comment/rate!
By the People, For the People by Katje van Loon
Asking myself what Obama will do for the US in his four years, I've come to an important realization. It's not about what Obama will do for us -- it's about what we'll accomplish under his leadership. Barack Obama has given the American people something very, very important: he's given us hope in a time when we thought all hope was gone. He gave us a future we could look forward to when all seemed bleak, full of despair. He gave the activists a reason to keep on acting -- because we felt, for the first time in a while, that the fight was worth the energy we'd put into it.
Obama is not the second coming. He's not Jesus. He's not Hercules. He's not any sort of deity, demi or full, and we shouldn't worship him as such. He's a man. A man who speaks eloquently and with passion and a man who gave a people hope again. That is something to celebrate -- that is something to love him for. And I do love him, for I think that he is a lovable man, and that his family is lucky to have him as husband and father. But I do not worship him. I am grateful to him for giving us what we lost, what had not been ours for a while.
I am not concerned so much with what Obama does in his four years (or more) in office. I think he's made a strong start, with choosing choice, and that's an important example to set for the people. I am more concerned with how we follow his example -- it's up to us as the people to make this country great. It has always been up to us, not the leaders. The leaders are there to do just that -- lead. We cannot ask them to make everything better for us.
Obama will not fix every problem we have, he will not rebuild America single-handedly. He will, however, provide the vision and the inspiration that we the people need to accomplish that feat ourselves. By the people, for the people. Let's take a page from the president's book and say YES WE CAN to change. Let's make that change happen ourselves.
America has a brighter future, now. I envision a future where we do have the choice to rule our own lives; where a "green" lifestyle is more accessible to more people and not prohibitively expensive; a peaceful future where we're not at war with others; a new economic structure or at least a chance to get out of this hole we're in; a future of good service to our communities; and a future where America is well-liked by the world again. I see these things coming about and more with Obama our leader, our lamp in dark times -- our inspiration to do for our country what needs to be done.
The state of the union has and always will be "by the people and for the people" -- sometimes it's just hard to look past the despair and see that. Obama has given us the hope we need to make our country great again.
Remember -- America is the land of the free because of the brave. The brave who act upon what hope and inspiration has given them -- the brave who protested at Kent State, the brave who marched with Martin Luther King Jr, and the brave who spoke out against injustice during the last administration. Bravery is fear plus action, and hope is fuel for action. Let hope and freedom ring out throughout this land.
