I Had a Dream

You know, I’m really nobody. But, I think I’m a lot like all the other nobody’s who make up the greatest nation on Earth. I often wonder if other people are thinking and feeling, what I’m thinking and feeling, at a given time. Right now, I’m not working and don’t see anything coming up, anytime soon in my chosen career. What that career is, is really irrelevant because the unemployment statistics say, a whole lot of other people have to be thinking and feeling a lot of the same things I am. I go through this thought process to keep myself from falling into deep depression. It actually keeps me out of, rather than falling into, the “misery loves company” niche! I’m 58 years old, and never had a problem finding gainful employment, before. My age doesn’t help! I know, there is not supposed to be any age discrimination, huh? Well… guess what… There Is!!! Can’t do anything about that one, though. I can control nothing except me and my own behavior and thinking. I know and accept that. But, way back, years ago now, I heard about this young, black, lawyer in Chicago.

This young man had political aspirations. That’s the only reason I heard about him, I’m sure. I don’t know exactly why, but I started reading anything I could find about him, and as it turned out, I ended up following what was becoming increasingly more and more to read that was current. The first thing I found about him that was of negative connotation, was that he wasn’t black enough to have a real future in politics. Then, next thing I know, he was, it seems like all of a sudden, a Senator for Illinois.

Through my reading about and following all the print I could find, I had begun to think that this guy did, in fact, have a future in politics. I had come to this conclusion before his election to the Senate. What really got to me were direct quotes of things that he said. I found that he had somewhat of a career as a writer already, and I read whatever I could find that he had written. I knew, by this point, about his upbringing and how he had overcome some pretty “All American”, average person, excuses to fail. He was in fact, stronger for the adversity of being bi-racial, having a single parent, and being raised by his grandparents.

One day, actually one Friday, when the Bush Administration had done some more damage to My Country, and I was just beside myself with a combination of shame, guilt and anger, I thought one more time, “this just has to come to an end.” I never voted for him and didn’t like him from the very beginning because he had “beady eyes”. He had those eyes that said, “Oh yeah, I’m hiding something. You betcha!” Anyway, I went to MSNBC and every liberal Blog I could find seeking solace that I was not alone in my feelings. I stayed online until I was falling asleep at the keyboard. Totally fatigued and completely spent, I went to bed at about 3 AM Saturday morning.

I had a dream!

I dreamed a future dream!

In my dream Barack Obama had just been inaugurated as President of the United States, and he had an agenda. In his inauguration address he had announced the closing of the Guantanamo Detainee facility and had included reversing executive orders to return to using the Geneva Conventions as our guideline in conducting suppression of “Terrorists” and the “Organizations” they supported. He had simultaneously unveiled a plan to incrementally leave Iraq and focus all of our attention on the demise of the “Al Quieda” terrorists. He had also announced in that 1st address as President, an already formulated plan that was initially being compared to the “New Deal”, to begin as he called it, “start spreading some charity around, at home, too.” By the 2nd day of his Presidency, the governments all around the World had heralded the United States as coming “Back”. I didn’t dream anything about this current economic thing, because, I suppose, none of us “nobody’s” would have dreamed that the “neo-cons” could cause such a thing; not even in our wildest dreams. I guess that me being a Veteran is why I dreamed about the particular things I did. In my dream I was happy beyond anything I could remember since the day I was discharged from the Navy. I was happy like I had just been to a free concert by Jesse Winchester or John Prine. Like most of my dreams, it just kind of ended in the middle of things, but I actually woke up laughing, and was amused with myself. It wasn’t early, it was in the afternoon, and I went straight to my computer and found the strangest thing. It was really a “chills up and down the spine” thing. It was Saturday, February 10th, 2007. There on the monitor were the words, Barack Obama Announces Run For Presidency. I just sat there and cried…

I write all the time, I love writing and I started writing this, way back when… when it happened. But, I decided to put it on hold until the election’s results were known. Now we know… we know that my dream could actually come true. How about that?