Just Call me JFK

To quote Tim Dickenson over at Rolling Stone, when Obama’s good, he’s damn good. The 2008 Democratic Nomineed Hopeful (wow, that’s a mouthful) gave another one of his incredible speeches on Saturday, finally letting go of some of that careful politicking and letting his true oratory skills out to play:

I will lead the world against the common threats of the 21st century – nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That’s what Democrats must stand for, and that’s what America must stand for. And I’ll be a President who finally sends a message to the black, white, and brown faces beyond our shores; from the halls of power to the huts of Africa that says, “You matter to America. Your future is our future. And our moment is now.”

America, our moment is now. Now is our chance to turn the page. Now is our chance to write a new chapter.

I am in this race because I don’t want to see us spend the next year re-fighting the Washington battles of the 1990s. I don’t want to pit Blue America against Red America, I want to lead a United States of America. I don’t want this election to be about the past, because if it’s about the future, we all win. If this election is about whether or not to end this war, or pass universal health care, or make more college affordable, it won’t just be a Democratic victory; it will be an American victory.

That’s the victory this country needs right now. This election and this moment are too important to settle for what we already know. The time has come to reach for what we know is possible.

I am not running for this office to fulfill any long-held plans or because I believe it is somehow owed to me. I never expected to be here, and I always knew the journey would be improbable. I’ve never been on one that wasn’t.

I am running because of what Dr. King called “the fierce urgency of now.” I am running because I do believe there’s such a thing as being too late. And that hour is almost here.

I’m running because I don’t want to wake up one morning four years from now, and turn on one of those cable talk shows, and see that Washington is still stuck in the same food fight it’s been in for over a decade. I don’t want to see that more Americans lost their health care and fell into bankruptcy because we let the insurance industry spend millions to stop us for yet another year. I don’t want to see that.

I don’t want to see that the oceans rose another few inches and the planet has reached the point of no return because we couldn’t find a way to stop ourselves from buying oil from dictators. I don’t want to see that.

I don’t want to see that we risked more American lives in another misguided war because no one had the judgment to ask the tough questions before we sent our troops to fight. I don’t want to see that.

I don’t want to see homeless veterans on the street. I don’t want to send another generation of children through corridors of shame. I don’t want this future for my daughters and I do not accept this future for America. It is time to turn the page.

I run for the presidency for the same reason I drove halfway across the country over two decades ago to bring jobs to the jobless and hope to the hopeless on the streets of Chicago; for the same reason I stood up for justice and equality as a civil rights lawyer; for the same reason I’ve fought for Illinois families for over a decade. Because I will never forget that the only reason I am standing here today is because someone, somewhere stood up when it wasn’t popular, when it was risky; when it was hard. And because that someone stood up, a few more did. And then a few thousand. And then a few million. And together, they changed the world.

That’s why I run in this election. I run to give my children and their children the same chances that someone, somewhere gave me. I run so that a year from today, there is a chance that the world will look at America differently, and that America will look at itself differently. And I run to keep the promise of the United States of America alive for all those who still hunger for opportunity and thirst for equality and long to believe again.

That is the change that’s possible in this election. That is the moment I want to seize as President. And I ask you all to join me in this journey. Thank you.

That is the end of his speech. The whole thing (found here) is fantastic. Obama is a wonderful speaker, and he’s often times more than right.

He also is beginning to remind me a lot of JFK.

Now, I know Kennedy had a mixed presidency. His surge in popularity — essentially, his becoming an iconic American president — came after the shock of his assassination. Death casts a golden glow on any life, and the short presidency of a very idealisitc and liberal man glows strongly. But if there is one thing that cannot be denied, it is the power of Kennedy’s words. His speeches and quotations have lived long after his death, and many have become central tenants of the modern American ideology.

After reading Obama’s Saturday speech, I felt compelled to re-read Kennedy’s inaugural address, perhaps the best inaugural address ever written and delivered. It is a beautiful, moving piece of oratory (read it here). But more than anything, I was surprised to find myself reacting very similarly to Obama’s speech as I do to Kennedy’s. They even have parallel messages:

Obama:

I will lead the world against the common threats of the 21st century – nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That’s what Democrats must stand for, and that’s what America must stand for. And I’ll be a President who finally sends a message to the black, white, and brown faces beyond our shores; from the halls of power to the huts of Africa that says, “You matter to America. Your future is our future. And our moment is now.”

Kennedy (1961):

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do—for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom—and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge—to convert our good words into good deeds—in a new alliance for progress—to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support—to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

Of course, Obama is addressing his party as a candidate for a nomination, not as the new President (though I can only imagine his inaugural address, whenever he gives it, will go down in history as well); the messages and the tone of the two speeches are different, both because of setting and because of time. But Kennedy seems more relevant that ever — not only does Obama have the same youth and vigor (or, rather, “vigah”) as Kennedy, he has the same optimism and grand ideological ideals as our former leader. Doesn’t this sound familiar?:

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.

Of course, it sounds familiar because it contains possibly the most famous presidential quote ever (if you don’t know which quote that is, you need an elementary school refresher), but doesn’t a lot of Obama’s rhetoric have a lot of the same qualities? It’s the same ideological vision of an America that will take responsibility for itself, both in the government and in the citizenry. The idea that the American People have as much responsibility to be involved with their country and their government, as their government does to keep them involved and in the loop. It is a manifesto about accountibility and involvement; it is beautiful.

Will Obama be our next president? I don’t know. I’m quite sure he’ll be president one day. And I can say — I’m looking forward to the convention speeches, a lot.