Suffice to Say...

I don't want to go on another depressing rant about how much I miss England. Suffice it to say, I still do, and that will be the end of today's talk on the topic.

In other news, I've been accepted to both William Mitchell and St. Thomas schools of law. Still waiting on the U of M, but I know have a bit of variety to work with, which will be very nice. I'm pretty sure if not Minnesota, I'll end up at WM or Hamline, but I'm not quite sure which one yet. St. Thomas did send me a very nice Christmas card from their admissions staff, but I don't know if it sweetens the deal that much.

Well, I started this post at like, 2 in the afternoon. It's now 10:45. So I've participated in my first caucus, my first foray into a more active political awareness. It was definitely an interesting process, something I've never encountered before. A ton of people showed up, which coincides with the huge turnout across Iowa. Sort of a populist, grassroots feel.

Myself, I caucused for Barack Obama, along with most of Luther College. However, I didn't choose the way I did to fit in with the cliché image of the pseudo-intellectual yet easily swayed liberal college student, wowed over by Obama's slickly packaged appeal to the young and educated. I truly believe he is the best candidate to lead in November. I think his most appealing characteristic is what I would deem the "JFK factor." Call it the politics of hope, call it change we can believe in, call it whatever you want. Obama is a breath of fresh air, something that is desperately needed in this country. Since 1988 (two decades ago for the mathematically challenged), the US has been led by a series of Bushes and Clintons. We're stuck in a war that smells of Vietnam. The economy is lagging. Our international standing has been destroyed. Politics as usual in the US are like a musty attic, or some sort of crusty old loaf of bread long past its expiration date. We need politics of hope. We need to find that spark that makes America great, that makes it a special place, a unique place. We have to regain respect from our allies, and we need to have dialogue with those who might not be our best friends. Bottom line, we need change. Hope.

What is wrong with hope? Why do people pass it off as naive or unrealistic? It's only naive and unrealistic when people have become so calloused and numb that hope is snuffed out. And that is a sad, sad day indeed. I mean, hope is one of the things we need to hold on to. And we need to be ready to seize the moment to turn hope into reality, to radically better ourselves, to raise ourselves out of complacency and corruption.

It's time to stop all the partisan bitching and start getting some stuff done. Stuff like health care, ending the war in Iraq, global warming, our own oil dependence, ethics, all of that. If there's one person out of all the Democrats and all the Republicans who can accomplish that, it's Barack Obama. I'd encourage all of you to check his ideas out. He might not have the laundry list political resume of Clinton or Romney or whoever. But Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney had sterling political backgrounds, and look at what they've gotten us into. Change is needed, change to make America great once again. I think that change can come from Obama. So, that's my spiel. I'm so happy he's won Iowa. It's not over yet though. It'll be an interesting 11 months. I hope I can continue to play a role.