By Travis Walters
My friends, I have great hope that after Election Day we can put our country first. I believe we can change the landscape of our communities and thereby our nation, from sea to shining sea. We can stand together with one common purpose and say to ourselves, friends, this is our moment, this is our time, and my friends, together we will remove the lawn signs; the banners that cover our buildings; the commercials on TV; the robocalls; the flyers mailed to our homes; and everything else that displays a trite political phrase.
I no longer call my friends, friends. I call them social acquaintances. I dislike the word hope, and I no longer accept change for purchases. For a time I subscribed to the email lists of both John McCain and Barack Obama. In the beginning they were amusing, but that quickly passed. I unsubscribed from each. When one leaves Obama’s list they ask you why you’re leaving. I said the following.
“You email me more than my mother. It feels as though I get Barack, Michelle, Joe, and David’s opinion on everything that happens. I feel like one day I’ll wake up and I’ll have an email from Michelle telling me how proud she is of Barack for taking the stairs and not the elevator. Later I’ll have Joe tell me, ‘Friends, McCain would take the elevator. That’s not change, that’s more of the same.’ David would follow up by asking for $25.00 to get Barack some more shoes. Finally Barack would send me an email about how growing up on Chicago’s South Side led him to take the stairs more.”
I didn’t do this for John McCain because he doesn’t know how to check email. Perhaps after the election he and Sarah Palin can get together and she can help him open a Yahoo account.
Friends, we have a long way to go. I’m confident that driven by hope, Frank the driver, and his supporting cast of Ed the Tire Inflator, Bill the Mechanic, Al the Lube Tech, Marcy the Bookkeeper, John, Paul, George, and Ringo the Beatles, and countless other voices of freedom, we will get there before the next election starts.
Though I often fear the next election will begin three weeks after this one ends. This election started two years ago almost, and each year they begin earlier and earlier. My gravest fear, the one that keeps me up nights, is that the signs become permanent. Beyond the political phrasing they’re often annoyingly designed, and are an aesthetic and environmental blight.
I’m tired of seeing them. I’m tired of watching them blow over in a swift breeze. I’m tired of two little ones being stuck underneath one big one. I’m going to fight against them. Fight with me. Fight against the flimsy ones in the breeze. Fight against the little ones hiding under big ones. Fight them. Fight the phrasing. Stand up for clean street corners. Stand up for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America. Stand up for a more perfect union.
