I can not help but make some remarks on the election results.
Last night on television, I saw the faces of my countrymen moved to tears by the sight of president-elect Obama. There were no cameras on me, but I was also.
Actually, I have liked McCain for years. In different circumstances, I might have voted for him. Also, disregarding his choice of running-mate, rationally and politically it made little difference to me who won the presidency.
But the problems within our country are not hypothetical, and they are beyond the rational and the political. And even merely giving a speech as president-elect, Obama has made an impact on them.
First of all, it was an amazing accomplishment for Obama to become elected. Even though a few weeks ago I thought Obama would win, I did not believe that he would capture traditionally conservative states with unfortunately, large racist segments like Indiana. I am very glad I was wrong. The fact that he won says something good not only about Obama, but about America. And it speaks not only to us, but to the world. For the first time in recent memory we as Americans can say to that world, “Hey, check this out. Look what we did.”
But the country is in bad shape. Fixing its problems will take more than good feelings about our collective voting record. I like what Obama had to say about that, though. I like that he says “yes we can.” And I believe that “yes we can.”
He also says that we will need a period of self-sacrifice. It is true. Most of us will have to have to give up some form of wealth and comfort, at least for a time. But if you truly believe that “yes we can,” suddenly you don’t need to fear. If you are genuinely doing “yes we can,” then working together with your fellow Americans feels good. You know you are working toward something better. On the other hand, if you believe in “imminent attack,” then even acquiring wealth is scary. If you are doing “war on terror,” then temporary setbacks seem permanent.
So, Obama is the president-elect. In some ways that’s a historic event, in other ways it’s nothing special. But after the last eight years, we don’t even need anything special. After the last eight years, we’ll take what we can get. And after the last eight years, we just want to know that we can.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Ross // Nov 5, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Yes We Can! (YWC)
2 Allen // Nov 5, 2008 at 5:00 pm
People sometimes need to know that they can in order to do. Let’s do.
3 Alex // Nov 8, 2008 at 11:50 am
Who needs to be racist, when there are gay people to hate!
4 Ian Bowman // Nov 9, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Ross – Yay!
Allen – It. You forgot it. Let’s do it.
Alex – There’s always something to hate.
5 Ann Nourot // Nov 12, 2008 at 6:36 am
Electing Obama is another triumph of optimism over experience and maybe just a little of American love of making a cool new celebrity. Many say they really like what he is saying but I think he just makes them feel they look good. Now comes the fun part when life as we know it gets grim. And we learn that there is no such thing as a free lunch and that big government is bad government.
6 Ian Bowman // Nov 12, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Ann Nourot – I agree with some of what you say. Big government is bad government. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody has to pay for it all. And I do think for some people, voting for Obama was a liberal style, like driving a Prius or shopping at Whole Foods.
But, “now comes the fun part when life as we know it gets grim?” Really? What’s going to happen? A recession will happen, but that’s not Obama’s fault.
It’s funny, people expressed the exact same doomsday scenario when Clinton was president-elect. Then, as it turned out the biggest concern those people had about him 8 years later revolved around a few blow jobs. They were not concerned about big government because he paid down the deficit. Budget surplus, remember that?
Republicans in the white house are good at talking about small government. They are good at using words like “socialist,” “liberal,” and “terrorist.” But they are not good at actually creating a small government. If they were, I would vote for them. Instead they plunge our country into debt, irresponsibly cutting taxes while spending billions on poorly managed military campaigns. They also focus on social issues that I don’t care about.
That will be the legacy of George W. Bush. Now comes the fun part where other Republicans have to live with it.
Finally, Ann Nourot? I know you, I think. I’m pretty sure we’ve met before. My mom used to work in another glass studio near Nourot. Before that, my dad had an art studio in that same complex.
Thanks for checking my blog out.
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