Thoughts after the election
The last time I was inspired to write down my thoughts at a moment in time was perhaps the saddest day in my memory. It is fitting therefore, that the next inspiration came on one of the happier ones.
Last night I got to watch as the United States elected Barack Obama to be our 44th president. I was in the club lounge of the Sheraton Gateway in Los Angeles. They called Pennsylvania before I left work for the day, a bit after 5:00 PST. That made it almost certain he would win. Ohio made it next to impossible, but it was Virginia that put him to 220, and made it official, since California at 55 was a lock. We had a few high fives and I went back to my room. By then they had called a few others, and had called the race. From that point it was just babbling and time filling until the victory speech.
The speech in Grant Park will be remembered for a long time. I got choked up, and a few times got the chills that come when you see history being made. It isn’t possible to know the future, but if we see a real change come, we will trace it back to this mild fall night, on the shores of Lake Michigan, with the lights of Chicago in the background. I guess you have weird thoughts at these times. Looking at that massive crowd I had a flash of dread, and hoped that they had run all those people through a metal detector. A sad testament to our times that this was probably not an isolated thought.
There are a couple of images of that crowd that really stick in my mind; images that underscore the moment, and in their own way confirm the importance of this event. There was an image of Jesse Jackson. This man is not one that I like, and he represents the oldest politics of blame and victimhood. He was silent, and there were tears flowing down his face. I connected with him as I saw him. There was no commentary, and no interview. That face said it all. He was seeing the realization of all of his hopes and dreams. Perhaps he would have hoped to play a larger role, and his only concession was a ticket to stand in the crowd of two hundred thousand others. He was there just to be a part of it, and I would have been happy to stand at his side and appreciate it in the same way. I think we need to give his generation credit for making the moment possible.
The other was an interview with Spike Lee. Spike too was almost in tears. He was going on about how great America was, and how this could not have happened anywhere else. Spike is not normally known as a great cheerleader for American patriotism. Maybe that’s because patriotism has been too narrowly defined as the domain of unthinking flagwavers who see things George Bush’s way. Perhaps people like Spike have genuinely felt excluded in the past, but it was nice to feel I was on the same side of the fence for this moment. If transcendence is possible, the reaction of Spike Lee is proof that it can happen.
The overreaching feeling was not the kind of martial spirit that comes from defeating an opponent. The thing you see in an NFL dressing room; or in Austin Texas when another long campaign was won. The spirit of Chicago on November 4th, 2008 was one of joy and hope. It was shared by Jesse and Spike, and it was shared by all of the people from all walks of life that made up that sea of people. I think that was Barack’s point. He’s always talked about hope, and it really does matter.
The world will be different now. I say world and not just America for a reason. In the timeline of befores and afters there will always be a place for this time. This is a better start to the century than that other mild fall day seven years ago.
Yes, I think we can.
Last night I got to watch as the United States elected Barack Obama to be our 44th president. I was in the club lounge of the Sheraton Gateway in Los Angeles. They called Pennsylvania before I left work for the day, a bit after 5:00 PST. That made it almost certain he would win. Ohio made it next to impossible, but it was Virginia that put him to 220, and made it official, since California at 55 was a lock. We had a few high fives and I went back to my room. By then they had called a few others, and had called the race. From that point it was just babbling and time filling until the victory speech.
The speech in Grant Park will be remembered for a long time. I got choked up, and a few times got the chills that come when you see history being made. It isn’t possible to know the future, but if we see a real change come, we will trace it back to this mild fall night, on the shores of Lake Michigan, with the lights of Chicago in the background. I guess you have weird thoughts at these times. Looking at that massive crowd I had a flash of dread, and hoped that they had run all those people through a metal detector. A sad testament to our times that this was probably not an isolated thought.
There are a couple of images of that crowd that really stick in my mind; images that underscore the moment, and in their own way confirm the importance of this event. There was an image of Jesse Jackson. This man is not one that I like, and he represents the oldest politics of blame and victimhood. He was silent, and there were tears flowing down his face. I connected with him as I saw him. There was no commentary, and no interview. That face said it all. He was seeing the realization of all of his hopes and dreams. Perhaps he would have hoped to play a larger role, and his only concession was a ticket to stand in the crowd of two hundred thousand others. He was there just to be a part of it, and I would have been happy to stand at his side and appreciate it in the same way. I think we need to give his generation credit for making the moment possible.
The other was an interview with Spike Lee. Spike too was almost in tears. He was going on about how great America was, and how this could not have happened anywhere else. Spike is not normally known as a great cheerleader for American patriotism. Maybe that’s because patriotism has been too narrowly defined as the domain of unthinking flagwavers who see things George Bush’s way. Perhaps people like Spike have genuinely felt excluded in the past, but it was nice to feel I was on the same side of the fence for this moment. If transcendence is possible, the reaction of Spike Lee is proof that it can happen.
The overreaching feeling was not the kind of martial spirit that comes from defeating an opponent. The thing you see in an NFL dressing room; or in Austin Texas when another long campaign was won. The spirit of Chicago on November 4th, 2008 was one of joy and hope. It was shared by Jesse and Spike, and it was shared by all of the people from all walks of life that made up that sea of people. I think that was Barack’s point. He’s always talked about hope, and it really does matter.
The world will be different now. I say world and not just America for a reason. In the timeline of befores and afters there will always be a place for this time. This is a better start to the century than that other mild fall day seven years ago.
Yes, I think we can.
Comments
I would like to see this as final vindication for removing all of you from your comfort Zone all those years ago.
32 Years ago we were all in New York for New Years Eve.
Last night Mom and I revisited our old stomping ground in the freezing cold.
I never tire of the stimulation this place gives me and Mom.
While I would prefer that we all lived in one place, It is better that each family unit do it's own thing. Each has been so successful in an individual way and I am so proud of each and every one of you.
I simply do not believe that we could have built this family with it's open and tolerant values while being waited on hand and foot by servants who cooked for us and did the garden work.
I should know. I was brought up by servants and I never wanted any of you to experience that kind of detached parenting.
I Love you all so very much.
Thank you for enriching my life.
Dad, aka Poppy