Where is the War?

President Obama has my full respect. He's my President and that's my punctuation, thank you. The man is intelligent, courageous, a visionary. He is one of the only leaders in my lifetime I'd be willing to follow into a war. Then why isn't he banging the drum about the two wars we are in?

I grew up with the Vietnam war as a nightly dinner guest, courtesy of parental news junkies who kept a tiny television on the kitchen table. We don't have TVs in our bedrooms and never will, but the first order of business when we bought this house was to outfit the kitchen with a television. We gather around it, all 13 inches of it, much like early viewers must have done in the 50s when the first devices graced living rooms. And so I'd know if the wars were making the airwaves the way they should. I'd know if we were hearing everything we need to hear about the soldiers far from home, or the families waiting for their return. I'd know if they were being suitably cared for upon their return. I'd know. And I don't.

Where is the war?

Cancer-Free Post

Hope is where you find it, and sometimes it all depends on where you look.

A product of a mixed marriage (Dad was a Republican, Mom a Democrat), I sided with Mom in nearly all matters political. After all, when she was organizing League of Women Voter committees through kitchen table meetings and phone calls who do you think was listening to every word? Despite leaving Illinois for California I've kept an eye on current players from the home state. Back in 2004 I ordered an Obama for President 2008 sweatshirt from Cafe Express. Never, ever anticipated that he would run so early. As he would say, I had the audacity of hope.

During the past few years this sweatshirt would often bring a "yeah, wouldn't that be great" remark from strangers or even "who's Obama?" from the unenlightened few. Now when I reach for the sweatshirt I pause, knowing that I'll be stopped for political discussions. Do I have the time? Am I dressed for discourse or really beyond repair, hoping to sneak by without notice? Should I slink back into longshot candidate attire and wear my Anderson for President t-shirt instead? Get this: Obama is no longer a long-shot candidate. Mom, are you watching this?

Today, in light of the Kennedy endorsements, a reminder of the moment when the possibility of change became more than a dream. If you missed it the first time, read the words now. Powerful. Hopeful.

If you want you can order an Obama shirt off the site while you're there. Most are backordered but, unlike Cafe Express, anything purchased goes into the campaign.

Go on, get a shirt. The red ones are totally hot.