As my previous post (not the psychedelic strobe candle light picture of my Mac) may have imparted, I feel a bit like an outside observer in much of what is going on. When I had this miniature epiphany, I tied it back to how perhaps I’ve always operated, and the re-enforcement of such behaviors by my Peace Corps experience.

As a foreigner in a highly unfamiliar culture, one stands out without much effort and must therefore first become an active analyst before developing any level of understanding about trust and boundaries; since these two attributes constitute much of what defines culture, one must be open to learning them in a method which is likely neither verbal nor written.

Back now in a familiar environment, this angst is channeled into the political process. People often forget that being a good rhetorician does not necessarily equate with being the most loquacious. In this regard, McCain will seem like a wise elder when compared to Bush, which will be in his favor. However, when it comes to inspirational, perhaps transformational rhetoric, Obama is without a doubt the leader of the pack and therefore my choice for President. Don’t worry though, it’s not only the rhetoric I dig, but also the message; Obama has become more Populist recently and seems to have successfully picked up the mantle of Edwards supporters.

Back to what I was saying before that sneak endorsement.

The more I’ve become aware of how deeply the democratic process has been subverted in this country, the more hopeful I am that its exposition and remedy will come in all due haste. No doubt the process has begun, but its accession to the new hegemony will be challenged ruthlessly. The paring of bold Kennedy-era vision with Millennial technology provides a potentially explosive fruit. Key to this is universal domestic high speed broadband access to an open internet (tax funded.)

I think my generation has moved beyond the outside observer status and joined the process via a diverse range of means. In many, if not most cases, the desire of one generation to change the policies wrought by the previous is universal. This fantastic power, does, however, have an often crippling downside, the tendency towards factionalization. If such pitfalls can be consciously avoided, the great power of coalescion can be applied to gravely important matters.

These are shockingly seminal times.