In which I cop to a slight touch of Obamania:
Over the last couple weeks I've caught myself subtly feeling "okay" about things. I listen to NPR most of the day at work. I hear a lot of news and news analysis and discussion. Plenty of stories about the Middle East and the financial clusterfuck and all that dominate the coverage. And a month ago, I heard these stories and kept thinking, "Fucking shit is spiraling down the damn drain." Today I realized that the last couple weeks I've heard the same stories more or less, and been thinking, "Well, that'll get sorted out now."
So I examined this little change and found that my subconscious had altered a little bit. I felt better about being an American. Not that I had ever felt bad about being American while Bush was in office, but now I felt better about it, somehow more proud to be a citizen than I ever have. And a bit up on the high horse about it (in my own head) too - 'cause I voted for Obama twice. I picked him in the primary 'cause I don't care for Hillary Clinton. As his campaign progressed and he started laying out his platform, I was solidly on board with his ideas (for the most part - there are some things that B and I don't see eye-to-eye on).
Now that he's been President of the United States for a couple weeks, I've continued to be impressed by his actions. He has suited word to deed in a way that isn't too common in politics in this country. And I'm impressed by how he's getting the ball rolling on his overall agenda, not just the immediate concerns of the economy and the Foreign Entanglements. The longer he has in the spotlight, the more his character seems to encompass all the ideals that we as Americans believe our leaders should possess (and so few actually do).
During the presidential campaign I wasn't one of those glassy-eyed Obamaniacs huffing Hope out of a brown paper bag and chanting hosannahs to his name. I chose him as my candidate as a gut reaction in the primary - I didn't like his opponent. It turned out to be the right choice, and that's made me feel pretty good lately.
So I examined this little change and found that my subconscious had altered a little bit. I felt better about being an American. Not that I had ever felt bad about being American while Bush was in office, but now I felt better about it, somehow more proud to be a citizen than I ever have. And a bit up on the high horse about it (in my own head) too - 'cause I voted for Obama twice. I picked him in the primary 'cause I don't care for Hillary Clinton. As his campaign progressed and he started laying out his platform, I was solidly on board with his ideas (for the most part - there are some things that B and I don't see eye-to-eye on).
Now that he's been President of the United States for a couple weeks, I've continued to be impressed by his actions. He has suited word to deed in a way that isn't too common in politics in this country. And I'm impressed by how he's getting the ball rolling on his overall agenda, not just the immediate concerns of the economy and the Foreign Entanglements. The longer he has in the spotlight, the more his character seems to encompass all the ideals that we as Americans believe our leaders should possess (and so few actually do).
During the presidential campaign I wasn't one of those glassy-eyed Obamaniacs huffing Hope out of a brown paper bag and chanting hosannahs to his name. I chose him as my candidate as a gut reaction in the primary - I didn't like his opponent. It turned out to be the right choice, and that's made me feel pretty good lately.