Quiet Storms

Wow, Barack Obama really really gets it. And the Republicans absymally do not.

This is some wonderful stuff, from an Obama speech, on Gustav and storms. It's from a piece by Jay Newton-Small at Time, who has some excerpts.

That spirit of looking out for one another, that core value that says I am my brothers’ keeper, I am my sister’s keeper, that spirit is most evident during times of great tragedy, it’s most evident during times of great hardship, it’s most evident when natural disasters strike because we understand that only God has control and so it takes it out of the realm of politics. We all understand that we have to come together.

But that spirit can’t just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here today and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there’s some folks that are going through their own quiet storms.

Then he gets into the personal or community struggles over jobs shipped overseas, not having healthcare, seniors unable to afford heating their homes, young people who can't go to college.

All across America there are quiet storms taking place. ... And what has always made this country great is the understanding that we rise and fall as one nation, that values and family, community and neighborhood, they have to express themselves in our government. Those are national values. Those are values that we all subscribe to. And so that the spirit that we extend today and in the days to come as we monitor what happens on the Gulf that’s the spirit that we’ve got to carry with us each and every day. That’s the spirit that we need in our own homes and it’s the spirit that we need in the White House. And that’s why I’m running for president of the United States of America.

Because if there’s a poor child out there, that’s my child. If there’s a senior that’s having trouble, that’s my grandparent. If there’s a guy who’s lost his job, that’s my brother. If there’s a woman out there without healthcare, that’s my sister. Those are the values that built this country. Those are the values we are fighting for.

John McCain wants to rush to the storm when it's glaring and obvious, and where there are political points to score. But all the other storms that are raging, he's nowhere to be found, personally or in his policy.