Posted by JumpyPants
I was chatting with a fellow Obama supporter yesterday, and he said to me, "A lot of times I think it's just too late...the economy, the environment, everything."
"Okay," I replied, "and then what?"
We kibbitzed a while about this and he quoted that great line about a cynic being a disillusioned idealist. And I said, "Of the many reasons Barack inspires me, one of the chief ones, if not the chief one, is that he's not an idealist -- he's a pragmatist who has ideals. He has huge, huge dreams, a visionary mind -- but at the same time, he is the consummate planner. Look at this campaign he has waged. Brilliant planning, three steps ahead of the competition every day. It is now the generally accepted view that he will win on Tuesday. But just a few months ago, he wasn't even supposed to get the nomination of his party. His success has come because he is incredibly smart, he surrounds himself with incredibly smart people, and they plan, quite simply, for the future."
Things are dire. We are in a world of suffering. But the very fact of Barack Obama, and the truly, truly unbelievable believability of his success is not simply his willingness to believe, but his determination to cast his beliefs into actions.