Barack for President

The long descent from the soaring, spontaneous, brilliant speeches of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy to the vapid, inane, mindless mutterings of our putative President, George W. Bush, is almost too painful to contemplate. Not until watching the movie, Bobby, did I fully realize how starved I am for a mature and intelligent leader; one who understands how to use language to inspire the best in us all.

Instead, we are stuck with someone whose speeches are written entirely by someone else and, who, when left to his own devices, invariably comes out sounding like a petulant spoiled brat, ignorant beyond comprehension. He can't inspire with language because he has no linguistic repertoire from which to draw. Notwithstanding the alleged sightings of the man with a book or two, he doesn't read anything that could enhance his ability to communicate. And he seems rather proud of that fact as well as the fact that he clearly distains facts. His is an astonishingly empty head.

I am looking for relief. I am looking for another Bobby Kennedy. I am looking for a leader who, by the force and passion of his words can heal the terrible wounds this nation has had inflicted on it by the careless, thoughtless and callous rhetoric of the current occupant of the White House.

There is Bobby Kennedy, Jr., a brilliant and passionate man, whose ability with the English language comes close to rivaling his father's. There is no doubt that every word he speaks comes through the intersection of his enormous heart and considerable intellect. He has been asked many times to run for public office. His answer is always no. Given his family's history, one can understand.

Then there is the surprise of the unhandled Al Gore, who, when left to his own devices, is an orator of extraordinary skill. Would that he had allowed his passion and intellect to dictate what came out of his mouth in the year 2000. Had he not allowed campaign consultants to focus group his every word, I have no doubt he now would be in his second term in the White House. Indeed, having already won the White House once, I would argue that he is one of our most logical choices for 2008. But he says he's a lousy politician with no plans to go through that hell again.

Barack Obama is not a lousy politician. In fact, he is a very gifted politician. Here is a man of our nation for all nations. His presence alone is a rebuke to the provincial myopia of the current administration. His ability to engage people with his deep interest in who they are is fascinating. His intellect is rivaled by few yet he never appears to condescend. He, too, speaks from a place that is both heart and mind. He is serious yet unflinchingly affable. And he plays the English language like a fine instrument.

Imagine the message to the rest of the world if we were to have the wisdom to elect Barack Obama as our next president. He is the antithesis of George W. Bush. Barack is a man of enormous intellect, curiosity, humility, worldliness, and charisma whose oratorical skills make Bush look petty and pathetic by comparison. His presidency would be a message to the rest world that we want to rejoin the world community as a partner interested in solving the world's dilemmas together.

Is it too much to hope for that our country has evolved to a point where we actually can elect a person based on the content of his head and heart and not the color of his skin? I have a dream. I long for it to become a reality.