politburo diktat 2.0

Kennedy endorses Obama at American University rally

Thousands of people showed up.

Check out the people in the picture. The black guy with the shaved head in the center; he’s happy. The too-excited blonde girl right in front of him. The girl in the upper left, apparently being hoisted up to snap a picture. All the cell phones and cameras. The beaming black guy who’s shaking Obama’s hand. The oddly subdued, thin-faced white guy behind him.

For all I know, Obama is actually a scheming, lying, crass, run-of-the-mill political hack. But people believe in him, believe in themselves, and believe (perhaps with extraordinary naivete) that maybe things could change.

I’ve been following politics and watching assholes from Nixon to Carter to Bush and the Clintons for forty years. This is different.