Regardless of any of our thoughts......last night was a significant event for the world. It was the culmination of a tough campaign season for all candidates in a historical election. What a wonderful thing to have so many different people representing who can run for president! (Past post on this topic - Hilary)
Today I received a text message from a friend in DC. She wanted to know if we had "run out of posts?" I didn't know what a "post"was, but wondered why someone would be looking for one a day AFTER the election when people should be pulling posts out of the ground and throwing their election signs out. Ha.
She actually wanted to have a Washington Post and all of them in DC were sold out. I quickly went across campus and saw all newspaper stands sold out. Darn it! Why didn't I think of this before? Of course you have to save the newspaper on a day like today! If you dont remember, don't worry - magazines will be great to collect in the next few weeks. Even though I'm almost all "electronic" at this point, there is still something about keeping that old newspaper from the day something important happened.
On another level this next president is felt to be the embodiment of progress for all black (African-American, African, etc.) people that feel that equality had not yet quite been served in our United States of America. And, it's just not Blacks, but other races as well. To see people overflow with emotion on the news last night was powerful. But, even more meaningful to me was talking with friends closer to home who, as African-Americans, felt an official acceptance flowing into their hearts that was evident by votes cast by millions of Americans. In other words, it was action and not just words. These same friends are extremely well educated in history, literature and the political movements surrounding those rights that most of us hold close to our hearts AND have come to accept as common place. These same friends also expect Barack to be treated the same as any other President, but at the same time be an example and "raise the bar" in performing the job well. He does have quite the task to undertake, but luckily...his aren't the only shoulders that bear the burden.
At the global level, though the "World is Flat," the folks on the planet haven't been too happy with the United States over the past few years. In many countries people are celebrating. In fact, one of my friends said he received calls throughout the night from friends and family around the world that were overjoyed that America was showing that they do want change, that they do accept different types of people and that we might start working together instead of creating more wars. Even a Muslim commented, in disbelief, that he couldn't believe America actually elected someone with the middle name of Hussein. This kind of response tells a lot. A lot of people hate us far more than the news lets us know. However, the events of last night allowed some of that hate to dispense a little and opened the door of possibilities.
I was sitting in our corporate library today when a librarian from Southeast Asia told me that she had only knocked on doors for one day and wished she could have done more because this was such an important moment for her people. And, she is Asian. She basically bore her testimony of the ability to vote, to support a person that she could identify with, etc." She said she got "goose-bump" just talking about it and ...I admit...I did too when she opened her heart to me in that moment.
I'm glad we are at this place. More Americans than ever voted. Congratulations to us! Even if our candidate didn't win, and even if our vote didn't actually count (yes, both Republicans and Democrats have an equal amount of bad eggs anxious to skew elections) , most of us were able to walk up to the polls without fear of death, rape, flogging or intimidation. In fact, most of us probably drove a nice car to the voter registration location. Most of us probably went back home or to work with a little sticker proving that we could vote and had embraced the opportunity. We participated in something that was bigger than ourselves. Something that we get to do every four years and sometimes more. We participate in elections that most will never experience in their lifetimes.
As far as the actual politics of all of this history making, who knows what will happen. Candidates at this level rarely deliver what they promise. Most of the time not even close. Most of them know, or quickly find out, that Washington, DC doesn't quite say "yes sir" to the President most of the time. Not that anyone cares, but the President doesn't get very high security clearances and doesn't actually know what goes on "behind the scenes," or at least certain scenes. So, really his/her influence can go only so far ...unless of course they try to pull a George. (Full disclosure - I voted for George - what was I thinking?)
But, let me not go negative on you here. Oh, but just one more negative - why did all the candidates attack DC and say they were going to overhaul it? Um, candidates, that's weird. Would you walk into any other job interview and knock the team, knock the location of the office and tell everyone that you were going to clean house and take names? We've hired these people at my work before and they were swiftly led toward, and out of, the door. C'mon, saying you are going to completely overhaul Washington shows a blatant mis-understanding, or denial, of what exists. Sure, it's politics, but....And, who likes new people coming into any office acting like no one has done any work before they appeared? Alas, most of us won't agree with most of what goes on in DC, but I do know for a fact that these political people work hard (to the point of regular 15-16 hour days and sleeping with their Crackberrys) and most do have the desire above and beyond the rest of us to make America a better place. They spend their lives proving it. Many of them make terribly low salaries to do so. Of course, I'm not talking about Senators here.
I don't know if the best man won. I would venture to say that he, and the other candidates, aren't half as bad as we think in some ways and far worse than any of us can imagine in others. There are plenty of sheep and wolves costumes available in politics. Unfortunately, some of the same people wear different costumes depending upon the date/time/location of the party. In my mind, none of the options are particularly good, but then again it's kind of subjective even for people that claim that they have researched all the issues and are unbiased. We are all biased. Our hearts and minds are fully, or not, engaged in different issues at different times. We change opinions about spouses, friends and other close people in our lives even if none of the facts have changed. Most of the time I can tell exactly what party someone is voting for by their reaction to information. Most of the time I can tell which news station they think is more credible by the arguments stated and refused. Unfortunately, we are all drawing our opinions from people that are paid to represent ideas in certain ways ...even if they started out with the best of intentions. Sometimes we stick to our firmly held political beliefs even if, at a later date, the true facts are revealed.
Other thoughts:
- The Man Upstairs - as far as I have been taught, God does not claim a political party and sometimes we act as if this is so. Goodness! There is a reason that we are all allowed to go into a private place and make a personal decision. Even among Mormons (which I am) we are free to choose. Our leaders claim to vote for various parties and encourage us to support the person we think is best. I've heard comments on all sides make accusations in this department. Let's keep some of Ceasar's stuff separate here...
Final Comment
Regardless of all of this overflow of electron verbiage (my writing), the fact is that Barack Hussein Obama is now the 44th President of the United States and Senator John McCain is a Senator...that gave an eloquent speech when he conceded his loss and bowed out gracefully.
So, let us all move forward together and take some steps, as Americans, toward cleaning up this mortgage mess, world opinions, our 401ks, job losses, and global warming (OK, i just threw that in there, but don't get me started on that one...even though VA has been in the 70s a lot lately...hmmm).P.S. Because I don't want to end on global warming, CNN wins the award for having the best electronic map interfaces, the best map choreographer (John King) and the best use of a holographic guy in an interview. Seriously, I watched the coverage flipping back and forth between 10 channels and this one was good. Charles Gibson needs a little help with his map skills, but I'm sure they will put that in his upcoming performance plan. As a technology lover...this was the most fun of the evening for me.
1 comment:
Amen!
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