The Audacity of Hope

As someone who has given Barak Obama my vote on more than one occasion, I can’t be too disappointed, because we share at least one thing in common- the audacity of hope.

I have the AUDACITY to note that almost every foreign policy our President has pursued has been based on faulty assumptions…
and the HOPE that our President has the guts to change his way of thinking.

I have the AUDACITY to recognize that not all people in a society and not all cultures in the world share the same values and aspirations…
and the HOPE that someday we can all just get along in spite of these basic human differences.

I have the AUDACITY to say that, in the meantime, our President should respect other people enough to take them at their word and deed, especially when these “differences” lead to killing, religious coercion and cultural eradication…
and the HOPE that someday soon he will stand up to them when they try.

I have the AUDACITY to state that there is no moral equivalence, or even proportionality, between leaders and parents who use children as weapons of war, and leaders and parents who try to guard and protect children…
and the HOPE that someday soon the nations of the world will feel the same way.

I have the AUDACITY to think that our approach to Iran is backwards…
and the HOPE that the President and his advisors respect the Iranians enough to take them at their word and deed as well.  (In case it wasn’t clear, the previous two paragraphs weren’t only meant about Hamas.)

I have the AUDACITY to believe that “Once you fool me shame on you, twice you fool me shame on me…”
and the HOPE that even though Obama has been fooled more than twice (don’t even try to count), our President will finally wake up, say “shame on me,” and start doing the right thing.

I have the AUDACITY to say he should do this somewhere, anywhere….
and the HOPE that it will be in the Middle East.

I have the AUDACITY to feel his response to ISIS is the exception to the way he rules…
and the HOPE that I am wrong.