January 19, 2009

• after so many years of feeling cynical about government, feeling like the country has been hijacked,  feeling the shame of living through the worst presidency in the history of the united states, feeling like american fundamentalists were dialing back progress, feeling like a beggar locked out of the bank while the bank was being robbed by the people that managed it, feeling like every word out of the president’s mouth was a naked lie, feeling powerless to stop any of it, is it ok to hope again? 

  it’s not proper to be so negative during a time that should be marked by excited optimism, i understand.  but i think it’s important to remind myself exactly what i am excited for.  as i see it today, the final day of his presidency, bush was that poor a president.  and because of this, tomorrow, the inauguration of Barack Obama will be that exceptional to me.

  it is ok to hope again.  the haters and contrarians will try to minimize the experience and call it “trendy”.  they’ll label it a flash in the pan, a wholesale acceptance of fluffy, feel-good nonsense with no basis in reality.  but i say that if the end result is the motivation of the people, then the reality has already been created.  what started as fluff is now concrete and measurable: the people are motivated.  the people feel united.  the people believe in the country.

  of course, this can change as quickly as the next news cycle.  things will inevitably look bleak again.  but the difference between future bleakness and past bleakness will be us having the memory of tomorrow to draw strength from.  anytime after tomorrow, we can all look back on the inauguration and remember what it felt like to be united and to hope together.  i think we as a country forgot what it was like to do that for a while, and that made the future look hopeless to some.  but we have it back now, i think.  we have the roadmap. 

  so, today and tomorrow, i am totally giving in to all this touchy feely inauguration admiration.  i look back at how bad it was, and how good it could be and i can’t help but participate with the rest of the country, with you.  the next few years will probably be somewhere in between but any step up is a positive step, a welcome one, right?  so, let’s all hold hands and if anyone has a guitar i’m down for some kumbaya action.  tomorrow is going to be the first of many better days, jerkies.  let’s do this!  

  • 6:07 pm
  • 3 Comments