The Fierce Urgency of Now

America is an interesting place.

Though still a relatively young nation, we have seen many trials and tribulations, as well as triumphs; we have met challenges and we have overcome. What began with a ragtag group of Minute Men and patriots has become the most powerful nation on the planet. Getting here was not easy, and the inexorable engine of progress was not always kind. In the two and a half centuries that divide we the people of 2008 from we the people of 1776, however, the ideas that make us who we are have remained. These truths are still self-evident: that all people are created equal, and that we have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The past several years have been some of the worst the country has ever seen. We have seen our Constitution, the foundation of our rights and freedoms as citizens torn asunder with every abuse of our civil liberties. Each library record requested, each phone conversation illegally tapped, each and every single incident of kidnap, torture, or rape enacted against citizens of this country or by citizens of this country has made us weak. And most times someone has tried to stand up, has tried to say, "No. This is wrong. You cannot do this to our country," he or she has been ridiculed at best and punished at worst.

This is not the America I know. The America of deception and fraud and control through fear is not who we are as a nation.

Nevertheless, we are here.

And it is now.

What are we going to do about it?

Well, as my favorite politician Barack Obama says, "In the unlikely story of America, there has never been anything false about hope."

And so I am hopeful. I am hopeful that we can change the course of the past several years. I am hopeful that we can reclaim our role as a nation of justice. And I am hopeful that our next leader has not only the ability to lead, but the ability to inspire.

America is great. But everyone needs a bit of encouragement sometimes.