following- up...

a good friend of mine has written to ask me to expand on* senator obama's key issues, and i thought instead that i would put up this link for anyone who wants to examine the issues more closely. [UPDATED: also see this and this and this.]

but i have a confession to make: while i know the general zip code that the senator's policies reside in, i had never myself looked over the aforementioned page before. and i will be more closely studying these policies in future days-- i don't want to be the person stephen colbert lampoons when he says that he doesn't trust "facts", he trusts "feelings".

that being said, i do hold true to mario cuomo's famous maxim that "we campaign in poetry and we govern in prose" [especially in such a divided congress, where one can't even order a fucking sandwich without aggravating the ire of half the country] and know that to be too caught up in policy wonkery is to miss the point, for i believe that the choice i am making is more symbolic, more cerebral, more illustrative of wanting to feel of my government and of my country at the same time again both proud and cleansed. that [once more, in addition to his bedrock progressive principles, intelligence, and measured judgment] is what i believe support for senator obama yields, in contrast with the other candidates**.

and now, a little rock n' roll.

I AM A PATRIOT

steven van zandt, 1983

And the river opens for the righteous, someday

I was walking with my brother
And he wondered what was on my mind
I said what I believe in my soul
It ain't what I see with my eyes
And we can't turn our backs this time

I am a patriot and I love my country
Because my country is all I know
I want to be with my family
With people who understand me
I got nowhere else to go
I am a patriot

And the river opens for the righteous, someday

I was talking with my sister
She looked so fine
I said baby what's on your mind
She said I want to run like the lion
Released from the cages
Released from the rages
Burning in my heart tonight

I am a patriot and I love my country
Because my country is all I know

And I ain't no communist, and I ain't no capitalist
And I ain't no socialist
and I sure ain't no imperialist
And I ain't no democrat
And I ain't no republican either
And I only know one party
and its name is freedom
I am a patriot

And the river opens for the righteous, someday

~lee.

*i just learned, just now, that to use "expound on" rather than "expand on" would have been incorrect. i always thought they were synonymous. thanks f12 key... i wonder how long i've been making that mistake.

**in case you are wondering, senator edwards is my 2nd choice for primary victor, though i will support whomever the democrats eventually nominate.