It’s 6.45 p.m. on a most important night for our planet. I have absolute faith that right at this moment, history is being made by American voters, and the world is about to change. Change FOR THE BETTER, I mean. For the much, much, much, much better.
Obama as President would be phenomenal enough, a man of his intelligence and grace, and, of yes, he is half African-American, that’s pretty incredible though it just shouldn’t matter one bit. Maybe race will matter less after this. But to have him and his fantastic wife in the White House after eight years of George W. and the anaesthetised Laura – is it a dream? When I listened to Obama in the debates, rolling through statistics, ideas, profound knowledge of so many things, I thought, how did W. even get through his debates without people screaming with laughter? Did he make a single salient point? I can’t remember. Perhaps he didn’t, and voters just liked the way he looked in his jeans, as people like the way Sarah Palin wears her hair and those stylish glasses. Perky plays big down there.
Anyway, the TV goes on in only a few minutes and the countdown begins. There’s a good bottle of Proseco chilling – can’t afford Champagne in this recession – and snacks and popcorn waiting for neighbours and friends to come by. Soon we will toast the beginning of the next, better phase of our world. Yes, he’s not a saint or a miracle worker and will have the worst imaginable mess to clean up. He will disappoint in some ways, I’m sure. But right now, I’m crazy about this handsome, thoughtful man. When I saw the picture of him yesterday, weeping over the death of his grandmother, I just fell in love.
A toast to you, Barack Hussein Obama. Long may our love last.
4 Responses to “Yes we can, yes we will, yes we are right now”
Well, we’ve finally done something right; we’ve elected Obama. I haven’t felt such hope in forever! I hope it’s just the start of a major turn-around.
Mary, what a great night for the whole world. I too feel tremendous hope – today can’t help but be the start of a new way of approaching everything. It’s not just Obama – think of the fantastic people who want to be part of the new America and will work for change with him.
Despite my ecstatic blog, the man is not superhuman, and he did say last night we wouldn’t agree with everything he did. He has inherited a colossal fiasco. But my God, if anyone can clear a way through the chaos, it’s Obama.
Of course there’s no such thing as a government that’ll please all the people all the time, but I’m just so thrilled that I finally have a president I can watch and listen to without being repulsed, sick to my stomach, and full of rage.
I cried all through Obama’s speech. He was so humble and sober. Not a hint of swagger. McCain’s speech was okay, but I was angered at his insinuation that we no longer have discrimination in our country. For one thing, was he not aware of the proposition being voted on in California to enforce discrimination? (Which was approved, btw.) We have a LOT of growing up to do yet, Mr. McCain!
Did you see Jon Stewart last night? He talked about how startling it is that he can understand the language Obama speaks, and also the joy of watching a man who has real human emotions. No, we’ve been in a very dark place for a very long time. The “New Yorker” cover says it all – it came out before the results were known, and shows a long dark tunnel with, at the end, some light.