Patrick Says

I promised this post to a friend while IMing on election night. It’s going to be mushy and it’s going to be about Obama. If that’s a problem, come on back on the next post.

Having had a full day to reflect on the election hasn’t really changed anything for me about it. I figured after twenty-four hours, the glow would fade. And it’s not for the other side not trying. I listened to a couple conservative talk radio stations and for a moment, I felt the joy leaving. But when I got home, The Wife and I watched the acceptance speech again. And it came flooding back again.

It pretty much goes back to 2000. When W. took office, I was mad about the travesty that was the 2000 election, but ultimately, we had to move on. So we did. And that next year, September 11th happened. And the world mourned with us. And then we retaliated.

But things started going wrong. The abominable Patriot Act was passed and liberties starting disappearing. W. pissed all over the goodwill other nations offered us. We went to war with Iraq for made-up, bullsh*t reasons. The men and women who served, my comrades, were dying and W. didn’t seem to care about things like just cause or strategy or ‘plans’.

And then somehow in 2004, we reelected him. At that point, I shook my head and let the pessimism take over. Whatever. I don’t care anymore. Let them destroy our liberties and rights, bug us, send our sons and daughters off to die. Whatever. At one point, there was talk of impeachment maybe. I started to think justice might actually be served. But then no Democrat would touch that except Congressman Kucinich. And it died.

And so, 2007 rolled around. I looked at the field of Democrats I had to choose from. And I was unimpressed. Hillary was the front runner. Look, I’m going to be honest. I’m just not a fan of Hillary. This could be way off, but I’ve always felt she kowtows to whatever side is most advantageous to her. And that bothers me. So I resigned to my fall back of ‘whatever’.

The field thinned and a junior senator out of Illinois overtook Hillary. I knew nothing about this guy, but he seemed like any other Democrat. By summer 2008, he had won the nomination of the Democratic Party. I decided to watch the convention and see who I might be voting for.

And something incredible happened.

I felt hope. I listened to this man speak and I felt those feelings come back again. He said things that I could agree with. He was a skilled communicator. I believed that he genuinely wanted to help America be great again.

That next day, I posted an icon on my blog. I started to watch the news and listen to what both candidates had to say. I CARED again. And on election day, I voted. Not only voted, mind you, but voted at 6:20am. I made sure The Wife got out there to vote.

And last night, I watched America elect the first African-American man to become President of the United States. I’ve seen some historic events in my life. The Challenger explosion. September 11. Just to name two.

But this one…this one was amazing. I teared up watching hundreds of thousands of people cheering. A young African-American woman on her knees crying at Spelman College. John McCain, giving the most amazing concession speech I’d heard. Back to Chicago, Jesse Jackson somberly standing, tears in his eyes. And then Obama made his speech.

And it wasn’t about your side and my side. It was about us. About how this country can change. It’s going to be a long road. But we can get there, together. Yes, we can. Thanks, Barack. Thanks for giving me hope about our government. Thanks for making me believe in ‘by the people, for the people’ again. Thank you, sir.

I would like to close this post with a quote I heard on NPR. It’s a great one and I wish I could credit the African-American gentleman who said it:

Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children could fly.

Here’s to hope and the future. Making this country great for ALL Americans. For my two sons. For your kids. For all our children.
Let’s get to work.

Possibly related posts:

1. I Voted…
2. Can We Retire These Words?

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