Its going to take a few days for the weight of this moment to settle. But know I'm going to cherish every ounce of history being made right before my eyes. We did it.
Its made bitter sweet by the Yes On 8 whack job in California, but I'm still ear to ear baby!
Keep up the good work TC.
]]>And music. I need some triumphant music for the next few days. Any suggestions much appreciated!
]]>But, hey, I cry easily :>) Did when I introduced this guy Coates at his reading...
And I am with MikeBoyScout, though still watching the battleground state I phonebanked.
]]>http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/11/05/reality-check/
Certainly this is a wonderful historical moment, but the problems that this country faces haven't magically disappeared. I think Obama did a great job in his speech acknowledging as much.
]]>Finally, we did right. Let us give credit to President-Elect Obama for the win, and to all who came before who made it possible. It's beautiful.
]]>As I made my way toward the white h
]]>My sixth graders are all abuzz this morning. Not only did they follow the election, they followed it rabidly. We've spent the first few minutes of each class this morning looking at the nationwide map.
What truly stuns me—and others have said this before—is that Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy, went blue this year. As a scholar of African American history, this is perhaps the most heartwarming fact of all.
I have told my students that, regardless of whom they supported, we have reached an historic point in American history, and that, even though they could not vote, they should feel like they are a part of it, too. I have also heard an astonishing number of tiny voices say to me, "Mr. G., I can't wait until I'm 18 and can vote in my first election!"
Neither can I, guys. Neither can I.
]]>My own impression is that Obama was unusually somber for a man who came from relative obscurity and just made history. Yet, it was extremely effective and had a very strong populist message. He is clearly setting expectations, telling supporters that the election didn't bring about change, just a chance for change.
The speech was excellent. I loved the way he paid tribute to Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Sam Cooke. Did everyone hear it? "It's been a long time coming..." I don't know if that was in the text or not, but he said it.
I also liked what he said about David Axelrod and David Plouffe. Those two men are going down in the history books. This campaign has changed American politics, and thank God for that. Goodbye, Karl Rove and the GOP smear machine. More politicians are going to running campaigns that appeal to the intelligence of the voters, not the ignorance and fear.
You guys are making me tear up all over again.
]]>Then, in many ways, America reverted to what seemed to be the worst of pre-9/11 culture: superficiality, blind partisanship, self-absorption. And what changes there were, were for the worse.
But now...damn! Back then who would have seen this coming?
Maybe, finally, Obama represents the changed America we were all hoping for after 9/11.
(I've been lurking for awhile. Just another aging white Boomer here, in the economic ground zero that is the greater Detroit area.)
1. Seeing the current results on Prop 8 in California, which looks like it will pass by a slim margin. It's a disgusting measure for which nobody should ever be proud. I remain hopeful that one day it will be reversed.
2. Knowing that Obama's grandmother, had she lived for ONE MORE DAY, would have seen her grandson become the nation's first black President. But she sadly passed away one day too soon.
One thing made me angry this morning:
1. Seeing that the majority of Alaskan voters may have still voted for Sen. Ted Stevens, a convicted felon. Doggone it, those pesky Alaskans just can't give up their felons, you betcha!
Now, having said all of that, last night was one of the most unbelievable, exhilirating moments in my lifetime. I drove down to Center City Philadelphia after they called the race for Obama. The streets around City Hall were lined with young, first-time voters of all shapes, sizes, and colors. We were singing, dancing, cheering, and high-fiving people we've never met. We've been waiting 8 long years for this, and in the past 12 hours, I have only begun to let sink in these two realities:
1. George Bush will finally, FINALLY leave office in just 2 months.
2. Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States.
What a great day this is!
]]>When I saw small children at the rally, of all races, I was ecstatic to think about the world they get to grow up in. I can tell my children they can be anything they want to be and not just for show, but I can say it and really believe it.
I also hope that previously disenfranchised people see the power of voting.
And after last night, I'm in the mood.
]]>Obama won Pima County (Tucson), by the way, and other AZ counties as well. McCain had his big advantage in Maricopa County (Phoenix) and there is just no way to overcome that right now. That is why we end up with senators like Jon Kyl.
Don't be sad about what we didn't achieve in this election, you guys.
I wasn't bothered by that at all. I imagine an awful lot of those votes were for "some Republican appointed by Palin after Stevens is forced out" rather than Stevens.
]]>And more than any other single group, we owe women for this win, both married and single, and of all colors. They delivered big.
]]>My youngest sat with me by the computer checking updates on the interactive maps. The whole thing fascinated her, with the totals constantly updating by state
I'm from California originally, and this is really sad. The contrast between electing Obama and passing this measure shows strikingly how the battle for civil rights has come far and yet is nowhere near over.
Thank you to women voters. It is high time to make history again in 8 years by electing a brilliant Democratic woman president - more ground to be broken on civil rights.
In 2005 I sat in the living room in the living room of a friend's mixed race home, drinking beer and talking about the horrors of Bush. The 14 year old son was so enraged and seemed so hopeless. At the time I said something about 2008 and mentioned Obama - could it happen? The African-American husband of the house laughed and said no way, this country is not ready to elect a black man president. At the time I felt I had no authority on which to argue with him, and frankly felt he was right. Thanks to everyone who believed and had more hope than we could muster at that time, he was very wrong.
]]>Listening to Nas 'Black President' on repeat...
]]>Langston Hughes
Doris said she and Russert had many many conversations about how tempermant was often the key factor in presidential elections. She believed Tim would have had something to say about Obama's ability to calm the waters admidst the craziness. Whether Obama was reacting to a personal attack, or the economic meltdown, he approached the problems earnestly and maintained his composure. In other words, he appeared very presidential. Compare this tempermant with McCain's. Enough said.
]]>He died in 1989, and on his deathbed I told him that among the many things I treasured from having been his son was his deep respect for racial diversity and the hope for healing that his life embodied.
When I cast my ballot for Barack Obama a few weeks ago, it was as much in my father's memory as out of my own hopes and dreams for our country. Last night's outcome for me helped the memory burn brighter and those hopes and dreams inch a little closer to reality.
]]>"A woman on the radio talked about revolution
when it's already passed her by
Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about you
you know it feels good to be alive
I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now
there is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
watching the world wake up from history"
When I was in my 20's in the 90's, I knew that the first black President would be a four-star General and run on the Republican ticket.
In the 00's, a black guy named "Barack Obama" won with something that looks a lot more like a mandate than what the Republicans were claiming for Bush in 2004.
What will I know in the 10's?
]]>Beautiful Hughes poem. And thanks for the reminiscence, DairyStateDad.
]]>I understand that all of us white folks have to report soon to the reeducation camps. Any chance you could get me a spot in the stalag they've got you commandanting? I'm a loyal reader, and although it's been a while I'm a credible DM with a full set of books and dice. Maybe you could make me a trustee or something...
]]>I must confess, I cried like a little school-girl when he went up on the stage for his final speech as a candidate and his first speech as president-elect.
I called up my cousins and fam in LA and Texas 4 in the morning, and we had alot to talk about to say the least. I've been walking around campus with a choked up voice and puffy eyes, like i've just stepped out of the ring. Clearly a victory for immigrants, blacks, minorities as a whole. But also for optimism, for progressive thought, unity and pluralism. A big step toward a more perfect union! Thank you America! Let's get back to work!
A few things struck me last night. Someone please find the Ralph Nader interview with Shephard Smith. Ralph Nader said something to the effect of: Barack has to decide if he will be an Uncle Sam or an Uncle Tom. I found the comment breathtaking in its unabashed hostility and bitterness. Also, Karl Rove stating that the Cosby family on television was America's first First Black Family is ignorant and bares not repeating, he is a domestic terrorist - is anyone working on war criminal charges for this fiend?
McCain's concession speech: his supporters unable to muster up an ounce of patriotism, or at the very least sportmanship, booed at the mention of President-Elect Obama's name (I am sooo ready to leave off the "-Elect"!!). And I really was not impressed by the speech to be frank. Hate is pretty exhausting, so I sympathize.
Obama's rally had every cross-section of America you can imagine - THAT is America. Yes, he is half-Black, yes Black people are happy (understatment) that a Black man will be President come Jan. 20 - but he is not JUST a President for Black people. He is Everyman's President - AMERICA'S President. Having only the Black vote would not have gotten him elected and I think that is what the Right fear the most - Mandate. Its called Change baby - and it has come.
It is time for the Right to put on their big girl panties, quit the sulking, and help turn this country around. Yes, lets debate and disagree. Lets not villify so that resolution is no longer a possibility. I am ecstatic and ready for this country to move forward united. This country needed someone to be the embodiment of the future, of hope, of promise, of the American Dream, of innovation, pragmatism, DECENCY, hard work, fortitude, and focus. We have the embodiment of all those things in Barack Obama. We have a lot of work to do and Barack Obama is the leader we need to motivate and move us to meet the challenges we face now and in the coming weeks, months, and years. No, he is not the Messiah....but he is the 44th President of the United States of America.
]]>This could have happened eight years ago if Colin Powell had run.
]]>I hope he will.
]]>
Community Organizers Win Elections!
Let America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
Ralph Nader said something to the effect of: Barack has to decide if he will be an Uncle Sam or an Uncle Tom.
That man does not have a single ounce of class.
]]>late edit: thanks for the beautiful poem, Karen.
]]>GAPeach, Andrew has the interview.
]]>Don't mind me, I'm still drunk off last night. :D
]]>As has already been stated, the former shows how far we've come, and the later how far we have to go.
]]>As a straight, white, liberal Unitarian Universalist married to a liberal Christian, I want to thank you for the distinction you made: but not thoughtful, theology-based religion
I am witness to the growing sympathies among devout, mainline Christians with the rights of gay and lesbian people to live in equality and to marry their partners, and I stand with them as they stand with our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
]]>Wow.
I've never witnessed anything of such magnitude, passion, and excitement in all my life. The exuberance of the crowd, the anticipation, and the uncanny friendliness of everyone involved. Afterward was a scene I will never forget. The streets downtown were blocked off and filled with throngs of people to the point of overflowing. They were singing, dancing, playing music, laughing, crying, and no matter where you were, you couldn't get away from the constant sound of muted and echoing cheering from all over the city. It was downright surreal.
I don't think it's fully dawned on me yet that I've been privileged enough to take part in an event that will be remembered long after I'm gone and forgotten. What an amazing feeling.
]]>Not only are we getting a potentially fantastic new president, but I get to tell a whole bunch of people "I told you so," which is just too darn fun to resist. So why am I not feeling overjoyed today?
I'll tell you why. Prop 8. I'm straight, but my gay and lesbian friends and family members are feeling utterly crushed, rejected and hated by the entire country today. My 4-year-old niece, whose two wonderful mommies are all that she's ever known, suddenly has to deal with the fact that her parents may not be married anymore, and not because they decided to divorce, but rather because a whole bunch of people hated them just for being who they are. It's sickening, and even more so because of the role that African-Americans apparently played in passing the measure.
This is a time when I should feel united with my African-American fellow citizens in a joyful celebration of what we've achieved together, but instead I'm actually kind of pissed off at them. I've literally never felt this way before, and it disturbs me deeply. I actually had to switch off BET's Obama special coverage today, because I was just so mad at African-Americans for passing Prop 8.
I know that my feelings are irrational and that it's unfair to blame African-Americans for Prop 8 when at least 30% voted against the measure, but there you have it. Prop 8 has brought out the first real anti-black sentiments I can remember feeling in my entire lifetime. I wonder how many other white liberals are feeling this way today... and I hope that these feelings pass quickly.
]]>I HATE how California voted on Prop 8.
I can't imagine how gay and lesbian people feel right now. I don't know what to say.
I hope people realize that here is another example of the black community not being a monolith. I bet (I hope) that a majority of the black people who voted for it are over 35. There's a big generational divide.
I live in Texas now. I don't know when this state will take up the question of gay/lesbian marriage. But when it does, I'll do what I can to help it become a reality.
Because seriously....gay people didn't fuck up marriage. Gay people didn't fuck up the family unit. Gay people aren't knocking up New Age videographers.
No....straight people have the market cornered on that stuff. If you're afraid that gay marriage will destroy the family....maybe YOU lack what it takes to do a family right. Don't take the right away from someone else, just b/c the family they form might not be your ideal.
]]>i wonder how things would have differed had mccain won.
]]>