Four years ago, I chided the American electorate, ending my blog post with this.
Ultimately, the responsibility is on We The People to keep ourselves informed and educated. We The People failed. I’m not blaming the government, Karl Rove or the neo-cons anymore. It is our responsibility. We need to stop being victims and arm ourselves with knowledge and reason.
Obama in 2008. I’m out.
That last line, at the time, was simply a pipe dream– a careless, fanciful desire. A long shot with absolutely no chance in Hades.
Today, he’s our president elect, and I’m the proudest I’ve ever been of this great nation.
But why did it have to come to this? I have a guess. People don’t start paying attention until it starts hurting. They don’t start conserving until there is a shortage. We don’t look at 10 or 15 years from now; we’re too busy looking forward to next week’s Disneyland trip. As long as the big ‘ol mob is sufficiently distracted, politicians and special interests can rape and plunder unabashed.
In a twisted way, maybe the last 4 years was a blessing. It serves as an example of what can happen when an apathetic and misinformed society sits on the sidelines as its children leaders run around without supervision. Maybe it was good that John Kerry, who for me filled the necessary role of “anyone but Bush”, didn’t get the nod. He’d likely be just another politician.
I am little weary for a couple of reasons:
- His security. Tom had told me that when Shelly watched him speak in 2004, the first words out her mouth were, “Oh my God, they’re going to assassinate him.” I can’t help but feel the same way. I see visions of people who wanted to drastically change the status quo like Martin Luther King Jr, Abraham Linclon, John and Robert Kennedy, and Benazir Bhutto, I cringe a little.
- Bush’s legacy. When George Bush landed in DC, gas prices were below a dollar a gallon, we had a pretty good reputation in the international community, a growing economy and a budget surplus. President Obama will be inheriting a huge turd. Our mountain, as described in his acceptance speech, is steep. Additionally, the expectations that he has set for himself border on “crazy.” He could gobble up terrorists for lunch and shit gold bricks; there are still going to be people who will say that he’s not delivering.
In any case, I’ll take this victory gratefully and just shut up. I’m happy. You done good, America. I’m proud of you and always knew you had it in you.
Now, is it January yet?
1 response so far ↓
aynne // November 5, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I too worry for Obama’s safety. This country is full of racist ignorant wackos.
It is also going to be an uphill climb to get our country out of this huge mess the Republicans have put us in.
But, I think that at this moment, with Obama’s election the message has been sent loud and clear to the rest of the world and the peoplw here who have felt disenfranchised and helpless the last 8 years.
The US has an unbelievable amount of international support at this moment and the people have renewed faith that we can have a country to be proud of again.