Government for the people, of the people and by the people. It's not a new message. But it's the reason upstart Barack Obama is making so much noise across the country in his drive to be president of the United States.
Admittedly, I am surprised by the success of the campaign. Those most surprised and dismayed are the political experts, the anointed, the old boys who think it is their born right to govern. People like George W. can't understand the call for change.
America local is tired of entitlements, special interests, unequal justice, political favors, porkbelly amendments, and smoke-filled room agendas. These are the elements that now has our children dying in an unjust, neocon-driven war .
Nowhere in the constitution does it indicate that government should favor big business and the poobahs who can pay for it. Yet, ,for years, the machine they call Washington politics has been running rampant, playing insider favorite, trampling rights, skirting real issues simply because that's the way things have been done.
We the people want democracy--and government that protects us--all of us. That, primarily, is what government is formed to do. Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative be damned. People are committing in greater numbers to the idea of real democracy; the kind that works for all citizens--be they victims of Katrina, or the under represented.
The success of the Obama candidacy is shouting that U.S. government is out of line with what the people expect and want. It does not work. Moreover, the passion for correcting the existing institution has folks genuinely believing that change is possible.
Realistically, I don't know. I am that suspicious of power brokers and what they will do to keep power. But the message, by now, should be clear. "Change it."
Thanks to Obama, we may actually witness the first bloodless revolution in history. And, I'll vote for that.
