Refreshingly Frank Mulatto to Save World

Barack Obama had a rally in Washington Square Park last night. I found out about it a couple of weeks ago, registered online for a "rapid pass," and then went so far as to show up on time. I was excited.

When I got to the park, there was the biggest line I'd ever seen. 25,000 people filed in two columns towards four laughably inadequate metal detectors. Bags were checked. Security wanded people with anal precision. The line moved forward at a rate of three steps per ten minutes. No joke, I was timing it.

The crowd started getting impatient. It was 5, then 5:30, then 6. We were no closer to getting in. We couldn't even see the stage. We all had these useless "rapid passes," which we stared at and showed to each other while grumbling that we wouldn't even be able to hear what was going on. Music started in the distance. Someone mumbled into a mike. People started leaving. It was very frustrating.

But then the Obama organizers did something amazing. They realized they had 25,000 unhappy people who had stood in line for an hour and a half. They walked through the crowd, assuring us that we were in the right line and that we would get in. They brought in cases of water and passed them through the crowd. They treated us like we were...well, people. It was nice.

Then the MC started getting everyone riled up. We could hear cheering and distant snippets of Obama this and Obama that. The rally was about to start and we were going to miss it. Off to my left, someone started shouting. Let us in! It grew, as catchy, insistent chants do, and soon the whole crowd was chanting. Let us in! Let us in! Let us in! The skeptics among us began to leave in greater numbers.

And then something absolutely unheard of happened. They stopped the metal detectors, they stopped the bag check, and just started letting everyone in. I'd never seen anything like it. The campaign organizers saw that their security regimen was inadequately slow, weighed the risk, and just decided to let people hear what Obama had to say. It was amazing. Here was a political bureaucracy that assessed an unsatisfactory situation and chose to do something much more reasonable. I'm telling you, it filled my heart with hope.

We all rushed forward, filled the space around the stage, and Obama began to speak.

I'm in love with that man. Here he is, blurry, distant, and with his back to me, but by God, this is an actual real life photo of Obama himself - mulatto powerhouse, savior of the world, one of very few Americans who can claim to be both a politician and a human being - taken with my own two hands:

And here is a shot of someone else getting a shot of him. I think you can actually see him clearer on this guy's screen than you could on mine:

Part of the crowd. I couldn't get up high enough to capture everyone that was there - I needed a press pass, of all things, to climb the scaffolding - but here's the outer edge:

Here we are dispersing after. I know you can't tell, but we all have these dreamy looks on our faces.

I'm not going to go into the details of the speech, other than to say that he is an excellent speaker. I had the shivers about 60% of the time. Out of Iraq by March. Health care for all. Student loan forgiveness!! Folks, Obama is going to save us. Please please please let him.

Here's his speech, in three parts. It's just riveting. You should watch it. For some ridiculous reason, the last part doesn't actually go to the very end of his speech, which is just a shame, because the end is amazing, but I'll try to find it and post it as an update.