What a difference a day makes. Cliche, but true as yesterday was Presidential Election Day 2008 which represented the culmination of almost two years of intense campaigning characterized by mudslinging, deep American polarization, and the media feeding frenzy typical of this period in our history. Regardless of your personal beliefs and how you voted, President-Elect Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President in United States' history on January 20th, 2009.
As you know with a tad more time on my hands in recent months, I've had the luxury of taking my time to go places and do my daily tasks. I'm able to observe my fellow Californians as they zip from here to there. The 21st century "rat race" as my Mom might say. In moving around town yesterday I observed excitement, anticipation, but with a hint of relief on tired faces. I suppose this would be analogous to Mom and Dad's collective exhale on Christmas morning after grabbing that first cup of Joe and waiting for the kids to come down the stairs to see what Santa had left under the tree.
Yesterday's sunny, cheerful and still has given way to cloudy, cool and breezy. I am not just referring to Sacramento weather. Today feels like the day after Christmas. Way too much of a good thing like democracy and patriotism have given way to sobering reality if you will. Democrats on the shoulders of Barack Obama face the cool reality of trying to turn around an economy in shambles and a deeply divided country in almost every political and social category including the war in Iraq, immigration, and energy. The ball is now in their corner. Republicans overwhelmed and humbled are vowing to rebuild their conservative platform and to rise again with enthusiasm and vigor.
Regardless of where you stand, left, right or some point in between.....LIFE IS GOOD. What you do on a daily basis will not change dramatically. Maybe, you'll have more taxes and perhaps someone might come one morning and build a solar plant across the street from your home, but your family is still your family, and unless you went crazy during the political campaign and dissed your buddy's momma, you should still have friends. If you attend church, you still have the option of keeping your spiritual self intact. If you go to a gym, you still have the ability to keep your physical self intact.
For those who are still concerned.....OK, on the soap box.....let's keep in mind that the United States of America is still the greatest country in the world. We have freedoms and opportunity that others only dream about. We have the luxury to worry about how our hair looks today or a yellow spot that appears to be getting bigger in our lawn. Keep in mind that a billion people, about 1/6 of the plant, do NOT even have safe drinking water! Millions live in fear of genocide, hunger and disease. I'm not saying we shouldn't be vigilant, but please take a deep breath and know that times may be tough (even tougher if you buy into the media hype), but never ever doubt America. LIFE IS GOOD!...off the soap box.
2 comments:
The best post to your blog yet! Damon, damn you're getting good. Well written and well thought out. It brought me back to the fundamentals of why we get up every morning, slam a few cups of coffee, and start the marathon that is living in a large metropolitan area. Yeah, I was disappointed with the election, but hey will my life change dramatically? Probably not. My family are and will do just fine regardless who the president is. Like I told Kelsey, "he's the president and he deserves our respect. We may disagree with him and his decisions, but we'll always treat him with dignity."
Thanks Don and I absolutely positively agree with your last 2 sentences. It's so important to teach our kids that everyone comes from different backgrounds and experiences, but we share one Earth. We can always agree to disagree on various political or social issues, but we must respect the opinions of others. In some circumstances easier said than done, but necessary.
When are we going to get together again? Are you guys coming through the area any time soon?
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