(no subject)
So, Barack Obama is President-Elect of the United States of America.
I'm not telling you anything you don't know already, unless you happen to live in a mud hut on an island somewhere, and even then I expect there were smoke signals or a carrier pigeon and you heard anyway.
But, I digress. But, I'm pretty sure that's the point of ranting. Digression.
Anyway, Start #3. Time to offend some folks. Election's over, and my candidate won. I'm glad for it, for certain, but apparently, there's something wrong with me by general perception, because I'm not dancing in the streets. Don't get me wrong, I am happy. I was incredibly moved by last night's speeches, and yes, I am using the plural without the slighest hesitation there, because while Obama was triumphantly inspirational, McCain's concession speech was downright noble. As someone said "We saw Real McCain again last night. I'm sure glad Real McCain didn't run for President; He would have been a lot harder to defeat than Cartoon Supervillian Republican McCain."
So, what's the problem, Jeff? Why are you such a buzzkill?
Well, for one, I object to that characterization. I'm not denying anyone else's right to be jubilant. I know folks who have invested deluxe helpings of their lives and souls into this campaign. People who have worked tirelessly for *months* to make what occurred last night a reality. Hell, even if the only thing you did was blacken a little oval and run a piece of paper through a machine, you did something. You *were* a part of it. You earned it. Enjoy it.
But, it isn't over, and I'm not one for losing myself in full on celebration when the work isn't done. It's just not how I operate. This isn't a movie. If it was, we would have had a slow pan out from a waving Barack (and assembled members of the Obama and Biden familes) and a fade to black. The credits would have rolled, and we all would have gone home with the happily ever after we purchased with the cost of a ticket and a bag of buttered popcorn. Honestly, I wish it was that way. It would be a lot easier than what's to come. This wasn't an end, it was a beginning, and there's a very long, very rough road ahead of us. Our President-Elect said as much (and with greater eloquence and oratorial grace than I myself possess) last night, and its critically important that we not forget this. The implementation of all the much vaunted change we've been talking about for nigh on two years now isn't going to go down easy. Its beyond the work of one person, and if you think the blood, sweat and tears that were spilled getting this far was something, the -oceans- that we as a nation will have to wade through in the future will dwarf them a thousand times over. I'm hopeful and I'm inspired, but the real destination still lies on the horizon.
So, now you know the reasoning behind my outlook. You didn't ask for it, and you don't have to care, but I had to say it. I have this problem, and I'm sure a number of you have the same. Words have this damned tendency of getting lodged in my head, and let me tell you, they make quite a racket until someone takes it upon themselves to actualize them and put 'em down on paper. Sometimes they get buried in a forgotten corner of my hard drive, sometimes they get thrown into the sea, sometimes they get smeared across social networking sites on the internet. But just the act of putting them down is good enough for me.
So, I'll wrap it all up with the words of another (albeit fictional) presidential figure:
"Break's over."
I'm not telling you anything you don't know already, unless you happen to live in a mud hut on an island somewhere, and even then I expect there were smoke signals or a carrier pigeon and you heard anyway.
But, I digress. But, I'm pretty sure that's the point of ranting. Digression.
Anyway, Start #3. Time to offend some folks. Election's over, and my candidate won. I'm glad for it, for certain, but apparently, there's something wrong with me by general perception, because I'm not dancing in the streets. Don't get me wrong, I am happy. I was incredibly moved by last night's speeches, and yes, I am using the plural without the slighest hesitation there, because while Obama was triumphantly inspirational, McCain's concession speech was downright noble. As someone said "We saw Real McCain again last night. I'm sure glad Real McCain didn't run for President; He would have been a lot harder to defeat than Cartoon Supervillian Republican McCain."
So, what's the problem, Jeff? Why are you such a buzzkill?
Well, for one, I object to that characterization. I'm not denying anyone else's right to be jubilant. I know folks who have invested deluxe helpings of their lives and souls into this campaign. People who have worked tirelessly for *months* to make what occurred last night a reality. Hell, even if the only thing you did was blacken a little oval and run a piece of paper through a machine, you did something. You *were* a part of it. You earned it. Enjoy it.
But, it isn't over, and I'm not one for losing myself in full on celebration when the work isn't done. It's just not how I operate. This isn't a movie. If it was, we would have had a slow pan out from a waving Barack (and assembled members of the Obama and Biden familes) and a fade to black. The credits would have rolled, and we all would have gone home with the happily ever after we purchased with the cost of a ticket and a bag of buttered popcorn. Honestly, I wish it was that way. It would be a lot easier than what's to come. This wasn't an end, it was a beginning, and there's a very long, very rough road ahead of us. Our President-Elect said as much (and with greater eloquence and oratorial grace than I myself possess) last night, and its critically important that we not forget this. The implementation of all the much vaunted change we've been talking about for nigh on two years now isn't going to go down easy. Its beyond the work of one person, and if you think the blood, sweat and tears that were spilled getting this far was something, the -oceans- that we as a nation will have to wade through in the future will dwarf them a thousand times over. I'm hopeful and I'm inspired, but the real destination still lies on the horizon.
So, now you know the reasoning behind my outlook. You didn't ask for it, and you don't have to care, but I had to say it. I have this problem, and I'm sure a number of you have the same. Words have this damned tendency of getting lodged in my head, and let me tell you, they make quite a racket until someone takes it upon themselves to actualize them and put 'em down on paper. Sometimes they get buried in a forgotten corner of my hard drive, sometimes they get thrown into the sea, sometimes they get smeared across social networking sites on the internet. But just the act of putting them down is good enough for me.
So, I'll wrap it all up with the words of another (albeit fictional) presidential figure:
"Break's over."