If you’ll allow me to wax political, I’d like to take a moment to stop and appreciate this moment in the history. Join me!
Breath in…..breath out.
Aaahhhhh.
Smell that? It’s democracy.
Last night we all were witness to one of the most remarkable elections in the history of our country. In a day and age where our country has never been so divided, we were able to come together with one voice and sound a resounding demand for change. No more are we tolerating the remarkable greed and stupidity that has come to define our current presidency. No more are we willing to stand aside while our leaders butcher our foreign policy and wage unending wars and support capitalism in its most destructive form. Last night, we as a nation decided that we could do better than this. And so we voted.
It was a beautiful thing. I have been humbled by my peers—by their passion and motivation and well-intentioned dialogues. I have dug deep and located that patriotism that has sat, festering and bitter, in a pit of disgust, and brought it out in the open. A strange sense of hope and unity that has long been absent has been flooding my system. I am slightly less the naysayer and slightly more the optimist.
Of course, I struggle with my own internal dialogue of negativity. Catch phrases like, “man behind the machine” and “illusion of choice” bounce around in my head, casting a shadow on my little ray of hope. I know that it takes more than one man—even the president—to bring those giant gears of monopolized, consumer-driven capitalism to a grinding halt. I know that every politician has skeletons in their closet, and the intelligent, soulful words of President-Elect Obama could just as easily be the words of some speechwriter, pandering to an audience that is hungry for change.
But I have hope because, well, what else can you do? I played my part of the well-informed citizen; I weighed my options and examined policies and made a contentious choice to decide with my head instead of my heart (hey, just because you’d like to have a beer with a guy…*ahem BUSH*… doesn’t mean he’d make a good president). And then I went out on election day with millions of other hopeful Americans and pushed that button, knowing that it was my duty and my right as a citizen. And now? Well, I have hope. And that’s more than I’ve had in a long, long time.
Breath in…..breath out.
Aaahhhhh.
Smell that? It’s democracy.
Last night we all were witness to one of the most remarkable elections in the history of our country. In a day and age where our country has never been so divided, we were able to come together with one voice and sound a resounding demand for change. No more are we tolerating the remarkable greed and stupidity that has come to define our current presidency. No more are we willing to stand aside while our leaders butcher our foreign policy and wage unending wars and support capitalism in its most destructive form. Last night, we as a nation decided that we could do better than this. And so we voted.
It was a beautiful thing. I have been humbled by my peers—by their passion and motivation and well-intentioned dialogues. I have dug deep and located that patriotism that has sat, festering and bitter, in a pit of disgust, and brought it out in the open. A strange sense of hope and unity that has long been absent has been flooding my system. I am slightly less the naysayer and slightly more the optimist.
Of course, I struggle with my own internal dialogue of negativity. Catch phrases like, “man behind the machine” and “illusion of choice” bounce around in my head, casting a shadow on my little ray of hope. I know that it takes more than one man—even the president—to bring those giant gears of monopolized, consumer-driven capitalism to a grinding halt. I know that every politician has skeletons in their closet, and the intelligent, soulful words of President-Elect Obama could just as easily be the words of some speechwriter, pandering to an audience that is hungry for change.
But I have hope because, well, what else can you do? I played my part of the well-informed citizen; I weighed my options and examined policies and made a contentious choice to decide with my head instead of my heart (hey, just because you’d like to have a beer with a guy…*ahem BUSH*… doesn’t mean he’d make a good president). And then I went out on election day with millions of other hopeful Americans and pushed that button, knowing that it was my duty and my right as a citizen. And now? Well, I have hope. And that’s more than I’ve had in a long, long time.
So let’s all raise a glass to the future of our country. Cheers to the first step in a new direction, and may many more steps follow behind!
1 comment:
Amen, sister! When Obama pledged to listen, even to his opponents, last night in his speech I almost cried from relief. Imagine, a president that's willing to have a dialogue with someone other than Dick Cheney. I'm so excited.
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