I live in the epicenter of America’s dysfunction.

Every night on my long drive home from work I pass a naval base; a place where I learned just recently possibly hundreds of illegal detainees from this administration’s various wars were held, interrogated and probably tortured. Across a bridge and about two miles up the road I pass chemical factories belching BPA and benzine into the air and into the water, things that are perfectly legal under the “pro-business” policies of the Bush White House. And as I drive a bit further outside the city limits of Norfolk and deeper into the low country of North Carolina, I pass the world headquarters of Bush’s private army, Blackwater, who helped wage war outside of any applicable treaty on foreign soil in our names—maiming civilians and combatants indiscriminately in the process.

And these are just the crimes and misdemeanors that are visible within a hundred mile radius of me. What I can’t see are hundreds of folks being foreclosed on; hundreds more out of work. Still others log into 401(k) accounts and watch them fall, emailing or IM’ing the losses to friends and loved ones with pleas for advice; banks fail as billions of dollars pours down a drainpipe marked “Iraq and Afghanistan Wars,” as more men and women die every day, casualties of a war with no path to victory with no end in sight.

We have to remember that as bad as all of this is, these problems are the result of the actions of only a handful of people. It is my sincere belief that the last eight years have been a considered, planned effort on the part of the conservative movement in this country to weaken and ultimately destroy our way of life. Buried beneath the headlines is the tale of an eroded, absent middle class; of a move toward a permanent global war; of a bolstering and overfunding of economic machinery designed to make the corporation the most powerful entity in America, perhaps the world.

If any of these things makes you sad, or make you scared for the future of not only the country you live in but the world at large, take heart that there are some things you can do. First, register to vote. You can find your polling place using this tool. Then, vote for Barack Obama for president. In all of the time he’s spent in Washington, DC, John McCain—while maybe being a decent person and a veteran—has done precisely nothing to help steer the ship of state away from the rocks of economic depression, war, and class erosion. And now that he flatly refuses to operate a candidacy based on truth and issues, and has selected one of the most terrifyingly under-qualified vice-presidential candidates in American history, I see no reason to either take him seriously or put him in charge of anything.

When I hear Barack Obama speak, I don’t have to doubt what he says; without any leap of the imagination, I know that he’s like us in some very important ways. His words and deeds motivate. And to measure the impact he would have on our society as president, I have to look no further than his campaign: young and old, all ethnicities, all backgrounds, all enthusiastically working toward a common goal. 

Remember how I said that so many of the bad things happening in the world today are the fault of just a few? The same can apply to a turnaround. Let’s give a new kind of leader an opportunity to take us forward, and leave the failed, mean-spirited policies of the Bush Administration in the trash bin of history.

Watch the debate tonight. Learn about Barack Obama and his vision for a better life for millions of Americans. When it’s all said and done, visit barackobama.com and make a small donation if you can, or simply read his plan. If you can’t donate, just vote. It’s free, and it’s one the great things about being an American. 

When I was growing up, my mom and dad told me stories about the Greensboro Sit-Ins, about Martin Luther King and about Bobby Kennedy—brave men who selflessly put themselves between tyranny and freedom. I hoped that when I could, I’d be able to cast my vote for someone as brave and visionary as them. On November 4th, I’m going to.