Joy in the prospect of the future

I just can’t hold it in any longer. I’m busting with pride and happiness. I find joy in the prospect of the future. And hope. Ah, the audacity of hope. Ok. You guessed it. I am so happy that Barack Obama is our next President of the our United States.

It’s not that we’ve just had eight years of Bush. It’s that ever since I can remember we’ve always had candidates and presidents elected who seemed as though they were somehow entitled to their position, mostly through their either liberal or conservative ideology. Jimmy Carter excluded. He was a lowly peanut farmer. And if memory serves, it always seemed as though whenever our president spoke he was speaking at me, not to me.

Now here is a man who came from left field, flattened the competition with his ideas of hope and acceptance, his smile, and his chutzpah. And he spoke TO me. He spoke not of idealism in the Republican or Democratic sense, but in the human sense. He seemed to understand the condition. He was unflappable. He was real smart. And he was respectful. No mudslinging campaign. Just traveling around to tell people that “we can do it together.” He needs us. When has another president said that and meant it? Yes, he does need us. All of us. And we need him. I believe he is truly the right man at the right time.

And the most wonderful thing of all, in my opinion, is that enough people in this country put aside their silly notions about black people, and elected a black man, actually he’s black and white, to the highest office in the land. This alone speaks volumes about how much we’ve grown as a nation.

Have you ever thought about what it must be like to be black? It’s not like being gay, or Jewish, or Irish, Catholic, or any other group who gets demonized now and then. You’re obviously black right from the start. I would imagine that a black person would develop, early on, a defense system to try to ward off the idiots who think black means inferior, or somehow stupid. And the heartbreak for a black parent would be to try to explain to a child that …”this is America. The land of the free. If you work hard you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up…” knowing full well that it just isn’t true. Well, now it is. Now they, we, can honestly say that we are what we’ve been saying all along. We are the Melting Pot. The greatest and truly freest country on earth. The exemplar. It’s a huge responsibility and one that should be accepted proudly. Not arrogantly. Kindly. Not pushy. All inclusive, not exclusive. Let the games begin!!!

PS: For those who read this as “Obama is perfect,” forget it. He’s a man. He’ll make some mistakes. But how a man handles errors is the proof in the pudding. Stay tuned, I have a feeling we’re going to like this guy.