It has been quite a long time since I have written anything in this space. It has been quite a long time since I felt compelled to share with the world some thoughts. It has been quite a long time since I was crying in joy in the middle of a long workday.
But then there is today.
I don’t care who you are, or what your beliefs are, or who your vote went to, today is momentous. It is one of those moments that will define our era and which we will speak about for years to come – where were you when the first black President was sworn in?
But there is more to it than that for many Americans – according to the vote on November 4th last year, for many, many Americans. It is a day that marks the departure of what many of us consider the root of most of our ills. Fighting a war on two fronts, economy in ruins, jobs down, damaged reputation overseas and general distrust of our government – all seeds of dissent.
America as a concept seemed failing. Americans are perceived as fat, angry, warmongering and lazy. Any American would feel right in being defensive. Something needed to be done. And in the depths of such feelings, such anger and despair, where small changes would mean much, something extraordinary has happened to us.
Instead of improving the status quo by degrees, or making small political shifts, we changed the entire game. We elected a young, radical, energetic, untested black man. Why? Why would we do that? Why jeopardize losing more by changing so much?
Because Barack Obama told us he was turning this car around.
I have a son. He is 10 months old. He will be almost 5 years old by the time the next term of the Presidency begins. I hope that he is almost 9 by the time Barack Obama leaves office. His most formative years, some of the most important years of his life, where he will be taught the values and morals he will carry his entire life, will be during an political era that I am proud to say I was a part of.
It is no secret that I was not a supporter of George W. Bush. It is no secret that, at the end, many people were displeased with our 43rd President. That’s nothing new – often Presidential approval waxes and wanes throughout an administration. What bothered me more, however, was the feeling that W. just didn’t care anymore. Our President shut off about 2 years ago, and let the problems, the issues, the wars, the death and the economic collapse just continue to worsen, day by day. It is that attitude, that status quo that is so against the American spirit.
Conservatives would disagree, most likely. They would say that W. was a true American, and embodied American values. But I must dissent – the true American spirit is rebellion and change. We are steeped in it. It is the genesis of our country. We march to the beat of our own drummer, and change what we feel to be wrong. It is part of our culture, our lives, even our Constitution.
So we are along for the ride. We are pulling hard at the wheel. We are turning around together. And we are happy to do so.
And I just wanted to mark this day with some words. Something to read in the future and remember the feeling. Something for my children to look at in years to come. Something for their children to wonder at decades hence.
It is inspiring. And I feel inspired. I hope you do, too.