Obama in LA
I took some time off from work today to hear Barack Obama speak in Culver City. (Or Baldwin Hills, depending on whether you get the address from my cell phone or from the neighborhood signs in the area.)
He’s an excellent speaker, with a strong presence, a refreshingly accurate grasp of the English language, and some very good ideas. But that wasn’t what impressed me the most about him. The thing that impressed me the most is that right after he took the stage, a woman near the front of the crowd collapsed. Not only did he spot it — he shut things down until she got some help. “Can someone please call the medics or 911?” he asked, as half a dozen cops stood by. Should I just go over there?, I wondered. I had a bottle of water, but I was two hundred feet away, with bodies pressed close between us. “We’ve got someone down here — probably just the heat.” We stood in the sun, waiting, until he said, “Are you okay, ma’am? No, we still need some help here. Would someone please give her some water? Are you okay? Okay, you just sit right there on the ground until you don’t feel dizzy anymore.” I watched that, and I thought of Bush, blinking stupidly, reading My Pet Goat while New York burned, and while I can’t say yet that Obama is my choice for the next president, I can say he’s just taken a huge stride closer.