I've let many a tear trickle down my cheek in the past twenty-four hours. I'm not the only one. That I know. I've seen them crying, all over the Television. Internet videos show horns beeping, chants erupting and overall shared happiness among fellow Americans. Poignant moments that have swept me away in a tide of shared pride, emotion and hope include, but are not limited to:
- A win in VA. Not only is Nixon's bigoted Southern Strategy officially put to rest, Ulysses S. Grant gets one more chance to do a drunken jig all over Robert E. Lee.
- The calling of the race by the cautious networks. My friend and I sat frozen, simply saying: "oh my god" ad nauseum, as as the tears streamed.
- Obama's Speech. Nailed it.
- An anecdote from a friend that a woman in her office told said friend that she (colleague), "felt like she belonged in America for the first time."
- An elderly gentleman still wearing his Obama pin on his trench coat lapel
As much as I overdose on Nerd when it comes to politics, I rarely allow myself to get swept away from the emotion that politics, at its best, can bring. This week has been an exception, and I am grateful to this election for being so tremendously powerful that it provided a bit of respite to my cynical nature.
Obama will frustrate me, and I feel that his fiscal approach will frustrate those more fiscally liberal than I even more. I will become scared that his message of hope was somewhat naive, that the 'system' will corrupt him, and thereby corrupt a small part of all of us who stood firmly behind him. I will question actions of his surrogates and worry when pundits call for a midterm backlash in the House.
But for now, I will choose to delight in the poignancy of the moment, join the masses in anticipating what kind of dog Malia and Sasha will choose for their new home and concur with our President Elect's assertion that:
In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
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