I'm at a loss. I am ecstatic, sure, but I am feeling hesitant. I whooped it up Tuesday night, jumped on the bed, said "I'm proud to be an American," rained crappy champagne out my apartment window, and watched a grown man cry. Barack Obama is now President Elect Obama and, as Hillary so eloquently put it back in February at that rally in my home state of Rhode Island, it is as if the skies have opened, the light has come down, celestial choirs are singing, and maybe not everyone, but a lot of people know we should do the right thing, and have started in the right direction. I am hoping that my bright eyed optimistic belief in this man and his purity of spirit, his humility, and his desire to help people is not unfounded. I hope he does socialize our economy a little bit. I hope Mitch McConnell who some douche on Faux News just called a "Parliamentary master" doesn't mess some important stuff up. If anyone can do it Obama can, right? So is the world perfect now?
While this historic election of a Black man to the highest level of public office in a country built by black slaves is a testament to how far racism has come in this country, intolerance has won in California. It looks like Proposition 8 is has passed with about 52% of the vote. Obama has openly stated he believes in the sanctity of marriage and that it is a union between a man and a woman, but says he opposes defining it so constitutionally. Whether he really believes this or doesn't give a shit and says it just to have something to say that won't entirely disenfranchise the Christian right, I don't know. I do know that Obama is more of a beacon for the destruction of intolerance in America than he knows. He is poised in prime position for a restoration of a country that, by design, does not define its political morals by limited religious ones. He has made it possible for a merited and qualified person of any race or gender to be president. I think the country still wasn't ready to elect a woman president. We didn't quite believe Hillary when she sipped lager from a frosty mug and fervently agreed to a Crown Royal, neat; we knew that she thought that we would think that she would look cool. If anything this campaign has taught us, it's that affected assertions of personality or slanderous tactics are not necessary. If Obama had some such campaign-y tricks up his sleeve, they were well hidden, his sleight of hand so precise its existence is inconsequential. He ran a clean campaign with balls, which is exactly why he won. Any lady who runs for president in the future has Obama to thank for changing the focus and mindset of voters. Obama now has a responsibility to promote tolerance, whether he likes it or not. I'm sure many are bummed he didn't speak out more against Prop. 8. (But the fact that he didn't just goes to show how he is not a crazy radical pinko. He believes in states rights.)
Now, I don't think he can really blow up the world or anything, so I have to admit that I'm very excited to see what Bush is going to do, now that they're going to let him do stuff again.
P.S. Did anyone see correspondent Jessica Yellin via hologram on CNN during the election coverage? Yes, hologram. Even she couldn't resist making the Princess Leia comparison. Spare me, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
