The Wednesday Night Poll That Wasn't
So...I'm still a little too moved by this whole election business to be snarky and glib tonight. Don't worry, it won't last. But, in the meantime, there's a little post-election schmaltz below.
I have always been a proud American. I'm a history nut and the history of my country is something that fills me with pride all the time. It's never pretty, but it's always big. And if there is one thing I know about my country, it's this: America has balls. Like, huge balls. Balls for days.
We've used our cajones for good and for evil. Setting aside the evil, for the moment, I'd like to look at the good stuff. The Monroe Doctrine. Abraham Lincoln: Screw you, Maryland, I'm suspending the rule of law because it needs to be done. Alice Paul: Fuck you, Susan B. I'm picketing the White House, I'm doing it during a war, and I'm going to be assaulted in prison because I deserve to vote. FDR: You don't want a war? Fine. We'll just send all the money and the supplies over there. Murmansk Run FTW! JFK: You want vision? I will give you vision that will knock this country on its ass. MLK: Community Organizers change the world. And we don't turn the hoses on people, either. LBJ: I am The Best Damn Politician in the history of time. I will pass the Voting Rights Act and I will pass the Civil Rights Act and I will sell out my party in the South because it's the right thing to do.
The thing is, though, none of this stuff happened in my lifetime. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it and not just because I was following the election. I'm taking a class about the EU and one of the major topics was the concept of Empire and, of course, the unavoidable question: Is the US on an inevitable decline?
And for a while, I really believed the answer was YES. I grew up in a state that Governor W ran into the ground. The DISD has had one corrupt Superintendent after another. My parents were able to put me in private school, though, and for that I am profoundly grateful. I was 15 when I first fearful of/for America. It was 2000 and when I went to bed, Gore was the President-Elect. That turned out great. In my early twenties, I had the opportunity to experience the health-care system first hand. I watched it fail doctors when I worked as a medical records clerk. I watched it fail me and other patients first hand. But my parents were able to pay cash for the treatment I needed, and thank God for that. I go to a public university, but it's out of state. Tuition is about $30k a year. I get no assistance. But my parents saved money for decades so that I could get a degree, and that saved my bacon.
If my parents had not worked their whole lives, I would be totally fucked. My government would have left me to hang. This election has changed a lot of that. People complained about how the Democratic Primary dragged on, but see what it dug up? Hilary Clinton: Bitch is the new black. And I look good in it. Obama: My middle name is freakin' HUSSEIN and I still got the nod, people.
Last night, for the first time, I'm proud not just of my country's past, but of its present. I am insanely proud that an American family raised Barack Obama. I'm insanely proud that he was educated at an American university. I'm insanely proud that an American state elected him to the Senate. And I'm insanely proud that yesterday, I voted for President-Elect Obama.
I think Ehud Olmert said it best:
"Once again, America has proven that it is, indeed, the greatest democracy and constitutes an example for all other democracies in the world."
I'm a pretty cynical person. I know that this isn't going to be puppies and sunshine and, you know, unicorns that poop rainbows. I'm WELL aware of that and it's a damn shame because I like rainbows. But this was a Big Fucking Deal. Anything that makes Colin Powell and Jesse Jackson cry with happiness gets my approval.
Anyone spoiling in the comments for ANYTHING that hasn't been aired in the U.S. will be put in charge of re-distributing Governor Palin's wardrobe.
I have always been a proud American. I'm a history nut and the history of my country is something that fills me with pride all the time. It's never pretty, but it's always big. And if there is one thing I know about my country, it's this: America has balls. Like, huge balls. Balls for days.
We've used our cajones for good and for evil. Setting aside the evil, for the moment, I'd like to look at the good stuff. The Monroe Doctrine. Abraham Lincoln: Screw you, Maryland, I'm suspending the rule of law because it needs to be done. Alice Paul: Fuck you, Susan B. I'm picketing the White House, I'm doing it during a war, and I'm going to be assaulted in prison because I deserve to vote. FDR: You don't want a war? Fine. We'll just send all the money and the supplies over there. Murmansk Run FTW! JFK: You want vision? I will give you vision that will knock this country on its ass. MLK: Community Organizers change the world. And we don't turn the hoses on people, either. LBJ: I am The Best Damn Politician in the history of time. I will pass the Voting Rights Act and I will pass the Civil Rights Act and I will sell out my party in the South because it's the right thing to do.
The thing is, though, none of this stuff happened in my lifetime. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it and not just because I was following the election. I'm taking a class about the EU and one of the major topics was the concept of Empire and, of course, the unavoidable question: Is the US on an inevitable decline?
And for a while, I really believed the answer was YES. I grew up in a state that Governor W ran into the ground. The DISD has had one corrupt Superintendent after another. My parents were able to put me in private school, though, and for that I am profoundly grateful. I was 15 when I first fearful of/for America. It was 2000 and when I went to bed, Gore was the President-Elect. That turned out great. In my early twenties, I had the opportunity to experience the health-care system first hand. I watched it fail doctors when I worked as a medical records clerk. I watched it fail me and other patients first hand. But my parents were able to pay cash for the treatment I needed, and thank God for that. I go to a public university, but it's out of state. Tuition is about $30k a year. I get no assistance. But my parents saved money for decades so that I could get a degree, and that saved my bacon.
If my parents had not worked their whole lives, I would be totally fucked. My government would have left me to hang. This election has changed a lot of that. People complained about how the Democratic Primary dragged on, but see what it dug up? Hilary Clinton: Bitch is the new black. And I look good in it. Obama: My middle name is freakin' HUSSEIN and I still got the nod, people.
Last night, for the first time, I'm proud not just of my country's past, but of its present. I am insanely proud that an American family raised Barack Obama. I'm insanely proud that he was educated at an American university. I'm insanely proud that an American state elected him to the Senate. And I'm insanely proud that yesterday, I voted for President-Elect Obama.
I think Ehud Olmert said it best:
"Once again, America has proven that it is, indeed, the greatest democracy and constitutes an example for all other democracies in the world."
I'm a pretty cynical person. I know that this isn't going to be puppies and sunshine and, you know, unicorns that poop rainbows. I'm WELL aware of that and it's a damn shame because I like rainbows. But this was a Big Fucking Deal. Anything that makes Colin Powell and Jesse Jackson cry with happiness gets my approval.
Anyone spoiling in the comments for ANYTHING that hasn't been aired in the U.S. will be put in charge of re-distributing Governor Palin's wardrobe.