Speaking of Hope

This is the first election year that I've sported a bumper sticker for my candidate of choice. I believe this is the most important election year that I've ever been alive for and I'm excited by the groundswell of energy by younger people in this election cycle. 

Barack Obama makes me want to be involved. He makes me hope for the future of this country even in the midst of watching the news and hearing nasty campaign ads and loudly declaring that we're moving to Canada.

Such is the power of hope.

And, it is a rare thing for me to have the overwhelming desire to hug a 4-star general. But when Colin Powell went on "Meet the Press" on Sunday and endorsed Obama that's exactly what I wanted to do.

My excitement didn't really stem from the the endorsement. It came from what he said after that. He pointed out that although Barack Obama is a lifelong Christian, whether he were Christian or Muslim shouldn't matter.

Colin Powell's own words:

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that [Obama] is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

"I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

"And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life."

That is the vision of the country I believe in. 

Now go vote.