HOPE IS ALIVE AND WELL.
Last night, I dreamt about a President Obama. Again. At the risk of appearing silly, I want to share the dream. He was not surrounded by chipmunks(Hi Selma!) and squirrels and deer, and riding a unicorn(the humorous depiction of him in some YouTube renderings). This Obama was sitting quietly, hands folded. The room was actually rather subdued, and I was asking him how he felt, and he said "I feel like we just took one step--one step towards a future that sees hope trumping fear. One step towards solving some of the problems laid at our feet, these past eight years. But more than that, I feel humbled and am honored to serve you. I promise to do my best so that you can feel redeemed in that hope.... That's where we are, America, and that's where we are going."
The reason I can remember so much, is that when I wake up from a dream, I jot down the phrases I remember, immediately.
I used to keep a diary, and I wrote in it, nearly every day. I stopped keeping one
a couple of years ago, though I do journal "important" events--often in this outlet, Lisa Allender Writes.
Recently, I went back to my old diaries of 1985-1995, and
what I found was a woman whose interest in politics had waned. Not because we--the United States--didn't need addressing, or weren't doing well, but because I was a fragile, rather lost soul.The Lisa in some of those years (particularly 1988-1995)
had become interested mainly in money, and I only realized recently, how much that emphasis hurt who I was. How it shaped friendships I should never have encouraged. I lost faith in my country(I did not even vote in 1992)because I lost faith in myself. It's a shame that it took intense crisis here in the USA for me to try to regain
that faith in myself.(The wonderful administration of Bill Clinton being hampered--nearly toppled--not by his marital indiscretions, but by a vengeful, grasping investigation which caused even more dissatisfaction in this country).
So I became my authentic, political self again, several years ago(I voted for Clinton in 1996, and I felt very betrayed when light fell on his private life(when testifying to that Grand Jury, and to that camera, when facing us). My father advised me then:"Lisa, things are good. People will look back on this, and see these continued attacks on him, his private life, for what this is--just partisan politics driving this impeachment process.It's ridiculous.").
My Dad has been proven correct, of course. The man who promised in his first speeches
to this country, "I'm a uniter, not a divider..." and "I'm going to restore honor and dignity to the office of the President of the United States..." has succeeded
in doing the exact opposite of that. That's right--George W. Bush said those words.
In 2000,I became my authentic, political self(that young girl who volunteered in the very first Presidential year she could vote--1976)by volunteering once again. At that time, I was more "moderate" (I tended to vote Libertarian in local political contests, but I certainly hoped Al Gore could win.)
By 2004, I was galvanized, and actively campaigned for John Kerry. The severe illness I suffered, less than 24 hours after George W. Bush was "re-elected" certainly was brought on by stress, and it was then I realized just how invested I'd become.
Why? Why get so invested in something that often feels impossible? Because impossible things--things that seeem out of reach--can be accomplished.
In reading these diaries--in reading about bad things that happened to me, poor choices I myself made, that led to more pain, and scary, ugly things that could have made me bitter, or harsh--I read words that made me cry, not with sadness, but with pure joy. In a paragraph detailing one ugly incident, I remarked how my faith in people had not changed--how I still saw most folks as good,and I saw the person who attempted to victimize me, as a person who was ill, someone who had more hurt, more pain in his heart, than I could ever understand. What's interesting, is that I was certainly not in a place of faith back then. Back then, I called myself a "cheerful
Atheist, or Non-Theist", but I was still was able to make sense out of something senseless.
I think that's what we're going to do with this election, with our future.
We're going to make sense out of what's been senseless the past eight years:
the senseless killing in Iraq, the senseless shredding of our Constitution, the
senseless destruction of our good name-of the USA-in our interactions with other nations, the senseless neglect of the poorest, most helpless of our citizens(re:Katrina, the scandals surrounding foreclosures on the less fortunate, etc.),the senseless destruction of our beautiful natural forests and rivers, the senseless desruction of our earth, the death of our support for the teachers in our country, and the children they teach.
We will make sense of it after all, because we will achieve the impossible. How do I know this? Because the impossible HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.
Senator Barack Obama, a man whose name most people did not know, and could not pronounce, only 20 months ago, through his diligence and as a result of his strong faith, intellectual prowess, and unique skill sets, has won his party's nomination.
We can choose to remain in the past, afraid our dreams won't come true. Or we can--even after feeling abused, hurt, a bit broken--we can choose that hope that Senator Obama has asked us to keep alive.
Peace, kids.

A LICENSE TO LIE. That's what I'd call Karl Rove specifying he'll not testify if any transcripts are made of his testimony, and his refusal to testify under oath. Read more, below!
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Rove ignores subpoena, refuses to testify
By BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer
Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.
Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of a House subcommittee, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove was breaking the law by refusing to cooperate — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress.
Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May in an effort to force him to talk about whether he played a role in prosecutors' decisions to pursue cases against Democrats, such as former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, or in firing federal prosecutors considered disloyal to the Bush administration.
Rove had been scheduled to appear at the House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday morning. A placard with his name sat in front of an empty chair at the witness table, with a handful of protesters behind it calling for Rove to be arrested.
A decision on whether to pursue contempt charges now goes to the full Judiciary Committee and ultimately to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
House Republicans called Thursday's proceedings a political stunt and said if Democrats truly wanted information they would take Rove up on an offer he made to discuss the matter informally.
The House already has voted to hold two of President Bush's confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry into whether the administration fired nine federal prosecutors in 2006 for political reasons.
The case, involving White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, is in federal court and may not be resolved before Bush's term ends in January.
The White House has cited executive privilege, arguing that internal administration communications are confidential and that Congress cannot compel officials to testify.
Rove says he is bound to follow the White House's guidance, although he has offered to answer questions specifically on the Siegelman case — but only with no transcript taken and not under oath.
Democrats have rejected the offer because the testimony would not be sworn and, they say, could create a confusing record.
Rove has insisted publicly that he never tried to influence Justice Department decisions and was not even aware of the Siegelman prosecution until it landed in the news.
Siegelman — an unusually successful Democrat in a heavily Republican state — was charged with accepting and concealing a contribution to his campaign to start a state education lottery, in exchange for appointing a hospital executive to a regulatory board.
He was sentenced last year to more than seven years in prison but was released in March when a federal appeals court ruled Siegelman had raised "substantial questions of fact and law" in his appeal.
Siegelman and others have alleged the prosecution was pushed by GOP operatives — including Rove, a longtime Texas strategist who was heavily involved in Alabama politics before working at the White House. A former Republican campaign volunteer from Alabama told congressional attorneys last year that she overheard conversations suggesting that Rove pressed Justice officials in Washington to prosecute Siegelman.
The career prosecutors who handled Siegelman's case have insisted that Rove had nothing to do with it, emphasizing that the former governor was convicted by a jury.
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Can we do nothing to end the corruption in this Administration? If this weren't so incredibly tragic(Iraq; Katrina--the lack of help, and the toxic trailers deliberately pushed on poor people; A million dead Iraqis, more Americans killed than during 9/11(and btw, Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11), and now, the new beat of war, this time on Iran, the economic crisis, the home-lending scandals,the incompetence; the misguided "goals" of George W.; the lies...if this weren't so tragic, it would be a comedy of errors.
Peace, kids. If only!