Mission Accomplished

It is Thursday night, two days after the election of Barack Obama, which still has my feet off the floor. This is my first attempt to write about it, although I have sent some E-mail to friends in various parts of the country and overseas. Actually, it’s plugging into the post-election euphoria that is circling the globe, a high that takes heart in the elevation of the freshman senator from Illinois and the dethroning of W and his neocon cohorts. (As Dave Letterman said last night, “Can Bush leave early?” Oh, that would be nice.) Somehow things seem better today; a pall has been lifted from the land; the sun is peeking through the dark clouds on the horizon. I know what I sense is at best a sense of exciting potential, but it does feel like a new era is dawning. As they say in sports, although one team may be favored to win, you have to play the game.

Sarah Palin is back in cold storage in Alaska, her nine weeks of fame over and done with, maybe for good, or maybe not. The McCain people are bashing her. She’s being accused of meeting people with just a towel on, of not knowing her geography, and god knows what else. I almost feel sorry for her. After all, McCain picked her. That is fact number one. As for McCain, he is in Sedona licking his wounds. No one has heard a peep out of him.

I will always remember that moment when CNN declared that Obama had swept the three west coast states, California, Oregon, and Washington, after he had already won in Pennsylvania and Ohio, which meant he had passed 270 and was in like Flynn—he was the president elect. The impossible dream was suddenly a reality! The tens of thousands gathered in Grant Park in Chicago exploded with joy and happiness, and I sat in my chair at home pumping my fist in the air like Tiger Woods, with tears streaming down my cheeks, like Jesse Jackson in the crowd in Chicago. What a moment it was, as so much came together in a flash; it was an emotional catharsis the likes of which I have experience only a few times. The first thought I had was, my god, a black man has made it all the way to the White House; this country had finally crossed a threshold the far right could not even imagine. It felt like we had graduated as a nation—and it was about time! Frankly, I never expected to see this in my own lifetime. What a tremendous breakthrough it was; we will never be the same again; the diverse and multicultural America has finally taken root.

Three cheers for Obama!

Three cheers for all of us.