This is an essay I wrote before Barack Obama was elected President.

The Real American Dream

For eight years we have heard the President of the United States give countless speeches on the war in Iraq, fear of terrorism, political upheaval, and the “moral decay” of America.  For eight years we have heard not enough speeches on international cooperation, healthcare reform, environmental protection, and civil liberties.  For eight years we have heard which people we should fear, we have heard which countries are “evil,” and which personal beliefs are allowed to be considered “moral.”  For eight years we have not heard what our country plans to do about global warming, we have not heard an apology for the acts of obstruction of justice, perjury, and invasion of privacy, nor a valid reason for why our soldiers are fighting and dying in this war.   

We have been told to fear too much, and have been inspired too little.  We have lectured our allies too often, and have listened to them not enough.  We have heard too many sound bites, and have held too few honest discussions. 

We should not be spoon-fed information because our leaders have difficultly with complex sentences.  We should not applaud speeches that spew redundant rhetoric, appeal to irrational fears, and politicize the loss of human life.  We should not be conditioned to assume that when our leaders talk to us, they will condense, conceal, and confound every issue we care about.  We should not settle for simplified versions of the truth, or give credit to spin over substance. We should not be afraid to tell our leaders we expect more. 

Because we do expect more.

We expect our leaders not only to be honest, forthcoming, and thorough, but to communicate with us intelligently.  We expect our leaders to address every issue of importance, not just headlines.  We expect our leaders to accurately represent our country as resourceful, righteous, and reasonable to the global community. 

We expect this. 

But we dream of even more. 

We dream of a leader whose words can burn into our souls and enflame our desire to make a difference in this world.  We dream of a leader who will focus us when we are in disorder, enlighten us when we are in darkness, and inspire us when we are in despair.  We dream of a leader who will energize us with a fiery desire to accomplish what we once thought too distant to achieve.   

We dream of a leader whose speeches will remind us why we are proud to be Americans.  A leader who won’t let us forget why we so proudly hail the flag, why America is the land of sweet liberty, where we open the golden door for the tired and poor, where brotherhood rings from purple mountain majesties and from sea to shining sea.  A leader who won’t let us doubt why we love this land, a leader who will stir us to stand beside her and guide her through this night, and protect with all our power her government of the people, by the people, and for the people from perishing from this great earth.

We have waited long enough for this dream to be realized.  Let us stand now and seek this leader, for ourselves, for our country, and for our souls.

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