Requisite election post
Hee, I know everyone’s probably sick and tired of hearing about it but I’m going to do my one post-election geeking out, then shut up and go back to studying for my A&P exam
Reading over my flist’s reaction to the election last night, I was very excited to see that not ONE. SINGLE. PERSON. was anything less than absolutely thrilled about President Obama’s being elected. I have the best flist in the whole world ^_^
Personally, for about the last eight years I have been hating and dreading the direction the country has taken. I, literally, worried that the United States was actually on it’s way to losing super power status (the whole “empires rise and empires fall” phenomena is not a thing of the past and with China possibly poised to soon be the next most uber!super powered nation in the world, I thought it looked grim) Overreaction? Probably, but the worry was there.
For the first time in a long time, I am happy, excited, and hopeful about the direction the country has a chance to head in and very proud to be an American (wow, that’s an odd feeling after so long) However, I do realize that Obama is not “the One”, he’s not Neo, and he’s not some kind of savior. The country has a horribly long and difficult path ahead of it, BUT I believe we’re now (well, as of 1/20/09) being led by someone who realizes those facts, has a plan to guide us through it, and obviously has the ability to inspire and bring out the best in the people of this country.
I’m also excited because I feel like a torch has been passed. For the last couple presidential elections, none of them have felt like MY presidential elections. It was all old, white, baby boomer men looking out for the interest of their people- out of touch and uninterested in the problems and voices of my generation. Not only is President Obama the youngest president ever elected (I believe… I should probably fact check that though), he’s got young (adorable) children, so I believe that he will definitely be looking out for not only our country now- but its long term future interests as well.
Also, I was very excited about everything Obama’s election has to say about racial bias and the work the country has done to move past it, however, I still found myself on pins-and-needles during his acceptance speech in front of that huge crowd and silently praying (despite being agnostic-borderline-atheist), “Please dear God, NO ONE shoot him!”
As for non-presidential elections- gay marriage. Yes, I was very disappointed that California banned gay marriage, however, I’m actually not too down about it. It’s an annoying and depressing set-back, yes. However, I fully believe that gay marriage will be legal in the entire U.S. within my lifetime. I KNOW that to be true 100%, without question. It’s going to take hard work and probably another decade or two, but it will happen. Not to mention that the gay community got our first explicit thank-you ever from a president -elect last night from President Obama, so that’s a step in the right direction right there.
For matters closer to my home, I’m also very proud of my state, Michigan, itself (not only for voting Obama) There was a ballot proposal to make stem-cell research legal that passed here (though my city voted against it), which I was very happy about. However, my home city of Jackson did pass a millage proposal to raise property taxes to help support the local library system. This may not seem like much to most people but remember- Michigan has been in pretty much a one-state recession for years (even when the rest of the country’s economy was strong) due to a huge loss of auto-making manufacturing jobs that only got even worse lately. Jackson has had one of the highest unemployment rates in Michigan, which is a state that has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. People are poor, at times desperate, and have been for a long time now. However, they were still (almost overwhelmingly- 62% yes to 37% no) willing to pay more money to support a vital part of our community. I’m proud of that.
Now- I will proceed to shut up and study (and geek out on other people’s journals about everything) ^_^