Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wuss Nation
I write here against a deep conservatism that cloaks itself in pessimism.
There is such a remarkable desire out there right now for Obama not to win, for something to happen, anything, beyond all odds, to keep him from doing something unprecedented. This desire is expressed not just in the remarkable variety of negative stories and hints of doubt in national news coverage, but also by people as reputable as leftist Times op/ed writers.
It's all bullshit. There is every likelihood that Obama will win.
We have to face the fact that this self-defeatism is part of our national character. Conservatism is about a deep-rooted fear of change. This fear is displaced onto the uttered fear that the possible is surely not possible. And this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Truly desiring a black man to be elected means believing that it is possible for this man to be elected, and not spreading one's doubt like a contagion. Hope is an act.
posted by James Hussein Dixon : 8/26/2008 02:24:00 PM
There is such a remarkable desire out there right now for Obama not to win, for something to happen, anything, beyond all odds, to keep him from doing something unprecedented. This desire is expressed not just in the remarkable variety of negative stories and hints of doubt in national news coverage, but also by people as reputable as leftist Times op/ed writers.
It's all bullshit. There is every likelihood that Obama will win.
We have to face the fact that this self-defeatism is part of our national character. Conservatism is about a deep-rooted fear of change. This fear is displaced onto the uttered fear that the possible is surely not possible. And this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Truly desiring a black man to be elected means believing that it is possible for this man to be elected, and not spreading one's doubt like a contagion. Hope is an act.
posted by James Hussein Dixon : 8/26/2008 02:24:00 PM
