I'm Glad Obama Is Not Like Me

Ignorance too often abounds and the truth too rarely perceived. The most important topic on earth: peace. What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of a peace do we seek? Not a peace enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, and the kind that enables men and nations to grow, and to hope, and build a better life for their children -- not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women, not merely peace in our time but peace in all time.

I speak of peace because war makes no sense in an age where great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resorting to those forces. It makes no sense in an age where a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied air forces in the Second World War. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.

I wasn't always negative. There was a time I was proud to be an American. Proud to be a registered Republican. Then Richard Millhouse Nixon and his gang of empire builders showed up and stole the world's hope, faith and charity. They took our America and made it dirty. Pessimism crawled into our lives and fed off our optimism and compassion. These empire builders adopted a philosophy that had already proven to be a disaster as early as 41 AD. "Let them hate us, so long as they fear us."

There is a flicker of hope. The empire builders' lease on America ran out on January 20, 2009, and already things are looking up. I believe there is a willingness to listen in this man Barack Obama. Listening is mesmeric and unique, it's a pulling force. The people who listen to us are the ones we move near. When we are listened to, it soothes us, makes us disclose and develop.

The Lady who stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor needs a little TLC. She has a broken heart. She has had to watch her sons and daughters turn away from her and look for a shortcut. But know this, we are coming back home. We have heard our Lady calling to us. And when we Americans can once again love and respect ourselves, we will find that the love and respect of the world is still right where we left it.

Biography: Bobby W. Miller was born in Florence, Alabama. Miller served as a pilot in Vietnam in 1968-69 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. Challenged Richard Shelby for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1992. Produced the television show, The Late Show (BLAB 2001). Worked as the golf pro on Holland America's ms Westerdam. Bob Miller is America's most controversial writer and has authored seven books.