The Real America

On Wednesday Sen. Obama held a rally in Richmond, VA- a place that by Gov. Palin's definition may be 'real America' simply based on its history. Richmond was the capital of the confederacy, and the capital of a state that hasn't voted for a democratic presidential candidate in 44 years.  He confronted the recent (and somewhat outlandish) attacks from the right that democrats are unpatriotic and liberals are un-american, saying:

"There are no real parts of the country and fake parts of the country... There are no pro-America parts of the country and anti-America parts of the country. We all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, rich, poor, gay, straight, city dweller, farm dwellers, it doesn't matter. We're all together."

"There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq; there are patriots who opposed it. There are patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women from Virginia and all across this country who serve on our battlefields, some are Democrats, some are Republicans, some are independents, but they have fought together and bled together, and some died together under the same proud flag."

Thank goodness Sen. Obama has the sense to denounce the politics of fear and division that some Republicans have resorted to in the final weeks of the election. 

Powell also made the point on Meet the Press last week with this story:

I feel strongly about this particular point 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 headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a 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 14 years old at the time of 9-11. And he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.

Now we have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know but I'm troubled about the fact that within the party we have these kinds of expressions.