HE'S THE FLIPPING PRESIDENT (ELECT) OF THE UNITED STATES!!!
I'm still having spasms of giddiness. I've even broken out the Tootsie Rolls left over from Halloween! I know I'm not the only one. Anyone who has been the only one, the token woman, black, Indian, latino, gay; the sole representation of minority in any majority scenario, has got to be with me on this one! Booyah!
I'm digging the giddiness, grateful for it, in fact, because, alas, as a reporter on MSNBC put it: "Thank you for watching the election. We now return to the economic recession already in progress." 10 million Americans are unemployed; nearly 500 thousand of those newly so, within the past three months. Some of the punditry say this downturn is the worst since the one in 1982 (others say since The Great Depression). Either way, it's the most serious since I've been a working adult. Interesting that it coincides with the rise of Obama and The Talented Tenth. I'm not expecting wizardry. I hope no one is. Remember Father Figure? It's more like that. It's scary as hell. George W. Bush's legacy will be the graciousness with which he hands over the unbelievable catastrophe he's wrought! Two wars, an economy flirting with the likes of The Great Depression, disregard for human rights at a level competitive with what some might call banana republics---W can probably barely contain his eagerness to be rid of it! At least finally, we can replace our anger with hope, putting our collective tiny hands in that of a smart Leader we can trust to guide us through this perilous terrain.
So when you remember the ones who have lied
Who said that they cared
But then laughed as you cried
Beautiful darling, don't think of me
I've been wondering how Obama's enormous fan base can be leveraged to ensure this more participative democracy moves from campaign to government. I'm happy to see organizations like AVAAZ and Divided We Fail were thinking this way too. I'm excited by the potential of this new day! If Obama continues to use technology in the way that his campaign did, more now perhaps to inform than organize, it could be soooooooo COOL! Rather than the weekly radio address (which even NPR doesn't carry live in the Washington market; maybe CSPAN?), how about a video daily, letting us know what's going on in the policy arena?
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