I just finished watching the movie ‘Bobby’. What a powerful film.

Not only was it enormously well done, with amazing characters and moving stories – it introduced me to someone I am surprised I new so little about. He was a man who people believed in, in whom they saw a new future, a new country. Someone who embodied their hopes, who gave voice to their fears. It made me think about what the US could have been like. How different it might be today if he had lived. It makes me wish that I had lived at that time, when I might have had faith that politics was about something real, about the possibility of change. In many ways I can’t see past the apparent naiveté and idealism of the time, a clear sign of my own mindset. I simply cannot imagine not being cynical and mistrustful of politicians and politics. It is just a part of the game, right? I consider myself a fairly optimistic person, and to realize the depth of my pessimism about our country (and maybe even world) frightens me. To see someone who clearly inspired people out of that deep, ingrained cynicism is moving, especially coming at the time in the US’s history that he did. Will there be anyone who can inspire people like that again? I’d like to think so, but in all honesty I don’t believe it. The world and the US have changed too much. He would have been torn to shreds, crucified on his own ideals well before he ever even got as far as he did. It’s a shame.