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Today was an exciting day for me. While watching a small-town parade celebrating our country's birthday, I came within two or three feet of the man I hope will be elected president this November.


My friend Justin and I drove to Butte, America -- as it is called for its rich and diverse history -- to watch the 4th of July parade and hopefully get a glimpse of Barack Obama. (Why Butte?) After a short speech in front of the Civic Center, Obama sat and watched the parade with his wife, Michelle, and two daughters, Sasha and Malia (who turned 10 today and was serenaded by members of at least one float singing, "Happy Birthday To You").

We were just behind the media section and had a fairly good view of the Obamas and the parade floats. At one point, Barack looked over in our direction and, I swear, waved and smiled at Justin and me. (Well, okay, and probably the couple dozen people around us, too.)

Toward the end of the parade, Obama spent 20 minutes or so walking the perimeter of the crowd and shaking hands. I very nearly got to shake his hand; if I'd been just a little closer or a little pushier, I would have. It doesn't matter. I got to see his eyes and his smile -- which is so authentic and charming -- and that was more than enough.


It was at that moment that I got verklempt -- choked up -- and tears came to my eyes. Why? I don't know, exactly. Maybe it is because Obama's candidacy has given me hope for my country after years of disappointment and sadness. Maybe it's because I believe he has the potential to restore justice to the United States of America, as well as our reputation in the world. Maybe it's because it's about time there was a black family in the White House.

Obama's campaign slogan is "Change We Can Believe In." Change is one of those funny things -- some people welcome it, others are frightened by it. I think many are deeply threatened by the idea of a President Obama. An African-American man. A man who wants to end the Iraq War. A man who wants to make the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

I am most disgusted by the xenophobic idiots who imply Barack Hussein Obama is a terrorist, simply because his name resembles those of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. It's like saying John McCain, John Wayne Gacy and Elton John are all related in some sort of serial-political-entertainment cabal. (What is John McCain's middle name, anyway?)


Here's the deal, people. Barack Obama is every bit as American as you or I. He was born in Hawaii, the son of a Kenyan and a Kansan, and like the rest of us whose relatives landed on this continent at different times and from different places, he is as entitled as anyone to be President of the United States of America. This great country belongs to all of us -- not just conservatives, not just white people and not just those who approve of the current administration.

I have ancestors that came over to the colonies in the 1600s, as well as some that arrived only a few generations ago. I cherish our country's freedoms. I am as American as anyone -- and yet, because I am a liberal, it often seems I'm not allowed to call myself a patriot.

Since the first Gulf war, I have wanted to get a bumper sticker made with an image of a flag on one side and a peace sign on the other, and in between the words, "It's my flag, too." For too long, conservatives have painted liberals as unpatriotic, as if it's not possible to love peace -- or human rights and civil rights and social justice -- and love one's country, too. "You're either with us or against us." I resent the implication. It's unfair and it's untrue.


I am a liberal and a progressive and a patriot precisely because I believe government has a role to play in ensuring equality, justice and peace. Remember the Declaration of Independence, adopted 232 years ago today?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ....

Watching the fireworks tonight, I thought about the Revolutionary War whose rockets they symbolize, and the wars since, including the current and seemingly endless Iraq War. I thought about today's Independence Day parade, where those of us who had taken the time to go through security and stand in the barricaded area near Obama -- presumably a left-leaning lot of people -- had cheered the military men and women in the parade even louder than we'd cheered the Democratic presidential candidate.


I believe that war is evil, although, as Jimmy Carter once said, sometimes a necessary evil. The Revolutionary War certainly fell into this category. Along with Barack Obama, I have opposed the Iraq War from the beginning, believing it neither a just nor a necessary war. But in the months after Sept. 11, 2001, those of us who didn't wave the flag in unquestioning acquiescence to our government's rush to war were branded traitors and told to "love it or leave it." Of course, now 63 percent of Americans oppose the war.

I am not always proud of my country, but like the country song says, I am proud to be an American. And I am proud to support Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Happy birthday, America.

(And Malia Obama!)

posted by Patia  10:55 PM