We Are Seeing The Mountaintop

Here is what Martin Luther King said regarding mountains in his I Have A Dream  speech in 1963–

“This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. ”

And here is what King said about mountains in his final speech delivered the night before he died in 1968 —

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!” 

If we elect Barack Obama today, we won’t quite have reached the peak Martin spoke of in 1963. But we will have climbed past a point I never thought I would see reached in my lifetime.

Far more than color, it’s about, after all these years, an affirmation, as visible as possible, that every American is a full American no matter what.

I’ll leave you with a picture of swing state Rocky Mountain peaks in Colorado. Let’s hope that tomorrow freedom is indeed ringing from those high peaks and from all peaks in our great nation.

 

Photo Essay—Go Out And Vote

People have been doing it for a long time–

And yes—sometimes it is meaningless–

Yet often the right to vote has come at a high cost ( Blacks voting in New Orleans after the Civil War) —

So take a spin of the wheel—

 And cast a ballot.

Texas Progressive Alliance Election Eve Roundup

Here, my fellow Americans, is your Election Eve edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance‘s weekly roundup.

jobsanger believes an avalanche of new voters could produce some surprises on election day, including the possibility that Georgia will turn blue, and even though an amazing 23% of Texans think Obama is muslim, a huge turnout in the urban areas and South Texas could produce some surprises in Texas, and early voting totals show this is happening.

Justin at AAA-Fund Blog is glad that 60% of Asian Americans polled in Harris County support the Democrats. He also is glad that voting this year was not a chore as it often feels. Justinurges everyone to support AAA-Fund’s five Texas endorsees: Rick Noriega, Al Green, Nick Lampson, Hubert Vo, and Sandra VuLe.

It’s been an exciting week for Democrats. First up was Hank Gilbert asking a Cornyn staffer to take a walk from a Rick Noriega event. Then there was Texas Blogger (and current TPA Chair) Vince Leibowitz spanking the Mike McCaul campaign for their amateurish content theft. Finally, we at McBlogger received word that Dr. Dobson had traveled to the future and didn’t like what he saw. Which is something you’ll probably love.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells us how State Rep. John Davis (R-Clear Lake) is sending out his wife to attack Netroots backed candidate Sherrie Matula (D-Houston). In return, he opens John Davis’ own personal Pandora’s Box and tells the world about Davis’ record.

The Texas Cloverleaf notes that Barack Obama leads John McCain in fundraising in Denton County of all places! In nonpartisan news, while Obama is raising money, Ron Natinsky is spending it. The Dallas City Councilmember is spending your tax dollars on trinkets bearing his name. In shocking news, No, we couldn’t make this stuff up if we wanted to.