Delicious chocolate cake made by Noe Valley Bakery
The primary party I co-hosted last night was fantastic.
Although my friend and I didn’t organize it in support of a specific candidate, the 20+ (American Muslim) wonks who attended turned out to be staunch Obama supporters. One woman brought a beautiful Obama ‘08 cake (above), a man brought fresh donuts because they’re “O-shaped and delicious”, and most everyone sported both their trilingual “I Voted!” stickers and something almost forgotten over the past seven years: an exciting, infectious, heady sense of hope.
The Bush years have been disillusioning, disastrous for civil rights and international diplomacy, and have often made me ashamed at the subversion of American ideals.
Obama heralds the coming of a different America, one in which multiple languages, identities, and ethnicities are the norm, and in which those of us under 35 are thinking in new ways about race and gender.
There is a certain quality in Barack that exists in me and many others I know – a “double vision” that allows us to be deeply rooted in our American identities while still maintaining our curiosity, empathy and desire for understanding another’s condition. As Fareed Zakaria said in support of Obama:
I’ve never thought of my identity as any kind of qualification. I’ve never written an article that contains the phrase “As an Indian-American …” or “As a person of color …”
But when I think about what is truly distinctive about the way I look at the world, about the advantage that I may have over others in understanding foreign affairs, it is that I know what it means not to be an American. I know intimately the attraction, the repulsion, the hopes, the disappointments that the other 95 percent of humanity feels when thinking about this country. I know it because for a good part of my life, I wasn’t an American. I was the outsider, growing up 8,000 miles away from the centers of power, being shaped by forces over which my country had no control.
No other political campaign has elicited so many blog entries, e-mails and phone calls from my friends, family and other people I respect (of all different races, ethnicities, and religions) asking me to join them in supporting Obama.
Beyond the above reasons, some of the policy issues that made me decide to support him were articulated by Barack himself after his win in Iowa:
When I am this party’s nominee, my opponent will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq; or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; or that I supported Bush-Cheney policies of not talking to leaders that we don’t like.
And he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether or not it is okay for America to torture — because it is never OK…
I will end the war in Iraq… I will close Guantanamo. I will restore habeas corpus. I will finish the fight against Al Qaeda.
And I will lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century: nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.
And I will send once more a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says, ‘You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now.’
[A more detailed list of his stances can be found, here, differences from Clinton here, and a more Obama info here.]
Obama’s speech last night struck me with its lyrical, inspiring cadences so I’m not surprised his supporters set one of his speeches to music, below. As the LA Times said:
In the language of metaphor, Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clinton would be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her in substance and adds something that the nation has been missing far too long — a sense of aspiration.
As a friend wrote to me, “In addition to his tremendous leadership, vision, and character, Obama is the first candidate in many years who has inspired me to believe that I not only have the capacity, but also the responsibility, to impact the political process. Please vote – it not only matters, but actually could change the country.”
Yes, We Can:
9 comments
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February 6, 2008 at 7:11 pm
maximus mercury
wow! what an absolutely gorgeous video and what a speech! wow wow wow!!! thanks for putting this up! I would have missed it otherwise! I am also glad your party was a success…I’m rooting for ‘Bama!
February 6, 2008 at 8:35 pm
koonj
Though not able to vote, I’m there too!
February 7, 2008 at 12:31 am
Achelois
I so want Obama to win; I don’t know why but I do. Maybe because his smiles look more genuine or because he doesn’t shine like a 1000 W bulb in face
February 7, 2008 at 7:20 am
Abu Hudayr
Obama is still an “establishment” candidate! it is easy to fall for his charismatic, eloquent rhetoric — he caters (shall i say pander) to those same special interest groups and lobbyist that runs washington. as Dr Cornell West puts it “follow the money” that runs the campaign at the financial level…
here is an example what he wrote to appease the powerful AIPAC:
http://jewishstandard.net/content_images/ObamaLetterbig.jpg
February 7, 2008 at 11:59 am
Baraka
Maximus: Glad you liked it, I found it moving as well.
Koonj:
Achelois: He does speak and behave very sincerely indeed.
Your three comments are the type I’ve generally heard from non US- voters. Non-Americans find something they identify with in Obama that could really put diplomacy and coexistence in the forefront again, instead of Bush’s “with us or against us” ride it alone if necessary cavalier attitude that has alienated so many in the US and around the world.
Abu Hudayr: Welcome.
a) I’m not a one-issue (Israel) voter.
b) What you’ve said of Obama is as true of the other candidates.
However, Clinton is more conservative as far as Israel and the war on terror go. With Obama we have the chance to push forward the peace process.
Velveteen Rabbi pointed out an op-ed on why Obama is good for Israel and Koonj posted another which suggests that Obama’s spiritual progressivism will be the key to building peace there and elsewhere.
It does not automatically follow that just because he is endorsed by Jews that he is then bad for Muslims.
From the first article:
“I want to suggest, however, that an Obama presidency would be of enormous benefit to a 21st century Israel, not because Clinton is dangerous in some way, but because Obama could reverse eight years of deepening hatred of America.
Obama is the real deal: He has lived overseas, and his multi-ethnic background is a truthful representative of the minority-white America that soon will come to pass…No more America versus the world; Obama represents an America that is connected to the rest of the world.
…the less stark the opposition between America/Israel and the Muslim world is perceived to be, the better for all of us who want to find some way to coexist — not love each other, not embrace one another, but share a small strip of land and reduce the appeal of extremists.
This isn’t about pandering to those who hate us; it’s about leadership, and rebuilding badly frayed relationships. Israel needs an American ally who inspires not intimidation — Bush — or even mere respect — Clinton — but a sense of commonality around the globe.”
From the second article:
So while spiritual progressives like the editors of Tikkun and the Network of Spiritual Progressives have been insisting that the best path to Israeli security is a peace treaty with the Palestinian people (an approach that seeks mutual open-hearted repentance for the way each side has treated each other, the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza that is both politically and economically viable, includes reparations for Palestinians refugees, and a South-Africa model of “truth and reconciliation” in both Israel and Palestine) the Democratic Party and Republican Party have traditionally vied during the election period to see which could appear more militant in its support for Israeli power and less sympathetic to the Palestinian people. While spiritual progressives support a Middle Path that is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, the extreme partisans on both sides see them as abandoning their interests and covertly siding with the other.
Spiritual progressives [like Obama], on the other hand, believe that the strategy of dominating the other does not lead to homeland security either for the U.S. or for Israel, whose interests would better be served by a strategy of generosity, caring for the well-being of the other, and reaching out with open-heartedness to acknowledge the unintentional pain that the U.S. or Israel has caused others and seeking forgiveness for that. We have seen that the path of “toughness” doesn’t work, doesn’t yield security, but only intensifies the losses on both sides.
In recent days, Tikkun magazine has received hundreds of emails from young Jews distraught at the television images of tens of thousands of Palestinians breaking out of the prison camp that Gaza has become, desperate for food, fuel and other goods that have been denied entry into Gaza by the Israeli army. A new generation of young Jews no longer blindly adopts the strategy of domination or salutes to the policies of the current government of Israel. These are the Jews of the future, but they do not yet control the institutions of Jewish life. They understand that Israel will be far more secure if it adopts a strategy of generosity, and stops trying to show how “tough” it really is, but they also despair about Israel “getting it” in time to save itself from policies that further inflame hatred against it by human-rights-respecting people around the world. No matter how much these young Jews may agree that Palestinian acts of terror or Hamas shelling of Sderot are also ugly and morally inexcusable acts, they understand that the overwhelming power of the Israeli military gives Israel the obligation to take the first definitive steps toward peace by embracing the Progressive Middle Path articulated above.
American Muslims need to develop a far more nuanced political understanding and stop reflexively voting for the most conservative family issues candidate (like Bush, who then went on to kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in an unjust war) or simply voting against someone because they are Jewish (Lieberman) or support the right of Israel to exist.
We need to build alliances with people and candidates who understand global nuances and interdependence and who will nurture international diplomacy instead of threatening to bomb Iran or Syria. Bush has done little to protect Palestinians or to push forward the two-state solution. I am hopeful that Obama will put the peace process back on track so that we can all co-exist.
Thank you for your comments!
Warmly,
Baraka
February 7, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Abu Hudayr
“b) What you’ve said of Obama is as true of the other candidates.”
Not true – Dr Ron Paul is the exception!
February 7, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Baraka
Salaam Abu Hudayr,
I’m unaffiliated with either major party but I will never vote for the party of Islamophobia, torture, killing of civilians, Guantanamo, limitations of civil rights, etc.
Though Paul says he would stop aid to Israel he also said he won’t pressure Israel to give up any land.
Given the aid and military machinery in Washington, the first will never happen even were he to be elected to the presidency.
His second statement would effectively undermine any peace talks as it would end in a non-viable Palestinian state. Without secure borders for both sides, the peace process will stall, settlements will continue to be built, as will the wall. Status quo.
Though I don’t support your candidate, I am glad that you’re politically enegaged in the process and planning to vote. I hope that there are domestic and international issues beyond Israel that are of interest to you too.
Good luck to your candidate!
Warmly,
Baraka
February 8, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Irving
We are all voting for Obama in my family
May God guide him and grant him wisdom and patience. Ameen.
Ya Haqq!
February 11, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Baraka
Ameen dear brother!