Obama Speech Part II

Part One Here

The rest of the day was spent listening to speeches, with video messages or musical performances interspersed between. The speakers included Howard Dean, who was his usual, slightly odd self, Gov. Bill Ritter who spoke about Colorado and renewable energy, and Bill Richardson who gave a rousing speech, which included the crowd chanting, "Si Se Puede." Will.i.am and John Legend performed together and Sheryl Crowe played a few tunes also. But we missed both of them, as we decided to watch I-25 shut down.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Denver, Interstate 25 is one of the main thoroughfares that cuts right by the city, and Mile High Stadium sits directly to the west of the highway. Due to security concerns, the Secret Service closed both directions of I-25 between I-70 and Highway 6 for the evening. The City of Denver then lined up snow plows across all lanes of the interstate at the closest exits to the stadium. It was surreal to see the busiest road in Denver completely devoid of traffic.

While watching I-25 close, we also got to see Al Gore arrive at the stadium (I think it was him, although it could have been Obama). There was an SUV with 12 SWAT team officers hanging on the side of it. The SUV was followed by a stretch limousine, and another SUV followed behind it. As I have stated earlier, they weren't taking any chances with security.

We returned to our seats and listened to a few more speakers. I then decided to go get something to eat, just as Al Gore took the stage. I hauled ass back to my seat before the rousing applause ended, and only had to shove one elderly couple out of the way. As someone who voted for Al Gore, somone who understands that he enabled the creation of the Internet through legislation (not invented it as is misreported), and someone who admires his work to increase knowledge of global warming, I was quite excited to hear him speak. Fortunately, I was not disappointed, as he met my expectations. Still, whenever I see or hear him, I always find myself asking what-if.

Stevie Wonder and Michael McDonald also performed. Plus, some regular Americans were invited to speak to the crowd. They were pretty enjoyable, as they gave a personal touch to the proceedings. But soon after came the big event. The main man, Barack Obama.

Mile High stadium was rocking when Senator Obama came out. It reminded me of the old Mile High stadium when John Elway led the Broncos to a comeback victory in the playoffs against the Houston Oilers in 1991. When I returned home, everyone asked me what I thought of Obama coming out to the U2's "City of Blinding Lights." Truth is, the crowd was so loud that I didn't know music was playing.

The speech, which Obama wrote himself, covered so many important issues that I can't possibly report on all of it. It was moving, thought provoking, hard-nosed, and inspiring. About everything that you could hope for in an acceptance speech.

One of my favorite lines from the speech was, "Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility — that's the essence of America's promise."

It is one of the messages Obama has promoted throughout his candidacy that has rung true for me. We are all responsible for our actions, but we also have a responsibility to each other. By eschewing both greed and a sense of entitlement, we can correct the dangerous course that the current administration has put us on.

It made me think of how regular americans built this country and also made me think of certain rights which we are entitled to, as discussed in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Obviously, we aren't in the same situation as our founding fathers, but, fortunately, they set up the framework for a Republic in which we have the opportunity to change our government by entering a voting booth and not a battlefield. We have the opportunity to vote for Barack Obama. A man with the vision, honor, compassion, intelligence, and leadership to lead the United States of America to a better tomorrow.