Spring Break
St. Barack, hear our prayers
Jonathan Boydston
Issue date: 5/16/08 Section: Forum
"The place is all full," he cried. "But don't worry - Barack will come outside and make a quick speech. He takes care of his people!"
"How comforting," I thought.
After hearing the few words Obama had for his rejected supporters, I left, pledging to try and see him before the Oregonian primary.
Last week such an opportunity emerged.
As I was leaving Corvallis to visit some friends in Eugene, I received the pleasantly surprising news that Obama was going to be on the University of Oregon campus at the same time I was.
After spending some time with friends at the bar (after my first experience at an Obama rally, I had no interest in sobriety) I made my way over to the rally. Guarding the entrance were several secret service police officers funneling people through metal detectors while searching their bags.
I stepped up to one of the security stations and fell in line behind a woman who, with all political correctness aside, looked crazy.
After avoiding giving her bags to the secret service police officers she eventually laid her possessions out for them to see.
They searched through her belongings, eventually pulling out a prescription bottle that was about 6 inches long and packed with medical marijuana blunts.
The officers - who were not from Oregon - were dumbfounded. I, meanwhile, was delighted.
After calling over support and inspecting the woman's documents, the officers allowed her in, laughing under their breath and holding out the prescription bottle for me to see.
"If you've never seen medical marijuana before, here it is," the officer said to me.
The rally itself was what I had expected. Messages of inspiration and unity captivated the crowd, and all those in attendance seemed to be content with the experience.
For me, though, the reward of seeing Obama lay not in what he had to say, but rather who he brought together. My experiences might not have been what I expected, but they were certainly ones that I will recall - for better or worse - for some time to come.
Jonathan Boydston is a senior in fisheries and wildlife sciences and English. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Barometer staff. Boydston can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.
"How comforting," I thought.
After hearing the few words Obama had for his rejected supporters, I left, pledging to try and see him before the Oregonian primary.
Last week such an opportunity emerged.
As I was leaving Corvallis to visit some friends in Eugene, I received the pleasantly surprising news that Obama was going to be on the University of Oregon campus at the same time I was.
After spending some time with friends at the bar (after my first experience at an Obama rally, I had no interest in sobriety) I made my way over to the rally. Guarding the entrance were several secret service police officers funneling people through metal detectors while searching their bags.
I stepped up to one of the security stations and fell in line behind a woman who, with all political correctness aside, looked crazy.
After avoiding giving her bags to the secret service police officers she eventually laid her possessions out for them to see.
They searched through her belongings, eventually pulling out a prescription bottle that was about 6 inches long and packed with medical marijuana blunts.
The officers - who were not from Oregon - were dumbfounded. I, meanwhile, was delighted.
After calling over support and inspecting the woman's documents, the officers allowed her in, laughing under their breath and holding out the prescription bottle for me to see.
"If you've never seen medical marijuana before, here it is," the officer said to me.
The rally itself was what I had expected. Messages of inspiration and unity captivated the crowd, and all those in attendance seemed to be content with the experience.
For me, though, the reward of seeing Obama lay not in what he had to say, but rather who he brought together. My experiences might not have been what I expected, but they were certainly ones that I will recall - for better or worse - for some time to come.
Jonathan Boydston is a senior in fisheries and wildlife sciences and English. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Barometer staff. Boydston can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
snarbagel
posted 5/16/08 @ 2:32 PM PST
My confidence is in Hillary Clinton. Besides having the better qualifications, the math of the Electoral College is hugely in her favor.
snarbagel
snarbagel
posted 5/16/08 @ 2:33 PM PST
My confidence is in Hillary Clinton. Besides having the better qualifications, the math of the Electoral College is hugely in her favor.
SamP
SamP
posted 5/20/08 @ 1:21 AM PST
Now, that this whole Rev. Wright thing & Rev. James Meeks & then the Obama/Odinga (it's not a good thing to campaign for your Kenyan cousin when his supporters torch churches burning people alive)---and now, we find out that whole "never been a muslim" thing is a LIE--turns out in his book Obama talks about "getting in trouble for making faces during Koranic Studies" and NYTimes Bill Kristol reported in 3/6/207 "Obama: Man of The World" that "Mr. (Continued…)
Mr. Nunley
posted 5/20/08 @ 6:33 PM PST
Obama is not a Muslim. Period.
He's been a 20-year member of an anti-American church based on the black theology of James Cone developed during the radical 1960s. (Continued…)
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