Democratic National Convention

I frequently rail about the damage the Bush administration has perpetrated on America. I rarely comment on hope. But after watching the 4 nights of the DNC, I've got to say that I dare to hope again. Whether one is for Hillary or Obama, these last 4 nights have energized the Democratic party.

I was profoundly impressed with the strategy. A clear message, delivered with authenticity and passion, methodic, rational, honest...I dare say that there might be hope. The organizers did a phenomenal job of making the most of the opportunity. Thank goodness the Clintons are smart enough and astute enough to use their power for the good of the party, and not just the party, but the welfare of the country.

I watched tonight's installment with a friend who was severely abused by the Bush administration when he was in power in Texas. She spoke the truth (in a photograph) and he ruined her career. Her story is not so different from countless other Americans. An alcoholic bully, fronting a psychopathic cabal of politicians, has squandered our country, its people, its resources, its hope.

I miss my mother terribly tonight. Everything that she stood for, fought for, was vindicated tonight. She worked with Dr. King to register black voters in Texas in the early 60's. She championed Mexican American and African American students at a shit-kicker university in Texas in the mid-60's. She mentored brilliant minority artisans before it was outre. She even got us kicked out of a Black Panther meeting!

As Juan Palomo, journalist extraordinaire, stated in my mom's eulogy, "She was a feminist before the word was defined." The addition of women's and gay rights to the Democratic persona would have made her ecstatic. I can only comfort myself in the thought that it was women like her who forged the path, who made tonight possible.

I have written about the depression of the last 8 years, and how Bush's sociopathic characteristics trigger my personal Traumatic Stress Syndrome symptoms by reminding me of 20 years spent as the ersatz partner of another alcoholic sociopath.

These last four nights have been a capstone to my own healing, my own recovery. It doesn't matter whether it was Hillary or Barack who got the nomination, the most important thing is a valid, viable alternative to the insanity of the last 8 years.

Does this sound like hyperbole? I assure you it is not. It is what I live with day to day. Tonight I was able to acknowledge and validate my own journey, and those of countless brothers and sisters who have been through the same distress that I have.

But most of all, I miss my mom, and know that if she were here, she would have been in Denver, would have thrown her entire self into the changes that must come about, must occur for us to be a Good American once again.