There are times when this country that I call home simply amazes me. When I think about American history, I think of it in terms of moments that I have witnessed, some heartening and full of promise, and some shocking and full of regret. Many historical moments of the recent past have been the kind that do not make me proud, and each time I have pinned my hopes on a candidate or a political party, thinking that a candidate or that the Democratic Party might be able to save the nation, I have been disappointed. I have not been optimistic about this Presidential election, I thought that with a majority of Democrats in Congress and the Senate, that this change might have already been underway, yet still we have soldiers in hostile places, for reasons that don't make any sense, still we are facing the crisis of climate change with no real plan to turn this crisis around, or even to deal with it on some serious level. One of the most difficult moments of recent American history that I have witnessed in my short lifetime, was the election of George Bush in 2004. It was bad enough in 2000, but you could kind of defend America by saying that he wasn't really elected by Americans. In 2004, I could no longer defend my fellow citizens. In 2004, America put it's stamp of approval on pre-emptive war, on Guantanamo Bay, on the looting of our own country, and here we find ourselves today, still fighting a dubious war, far away from climate and energy solutions, and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
I got home from work last night, with an idea the idea that maybe the time for solutions was past, and the next President will spend the first 2 years in office putting out fires from eight years of reckless infrastructure decay, and spend the last 2 years fighting off allegations of sexual misconduct, or charges of perjury about the alleged misconduct, and the feeling that the issues that face our leaders and the American people will surely break us. I mean, in a 12 hour shift, I had seen the Dow Jones drop 400 points, some strange weather pattern moving through the south, (tornados and lots of them in February?), and I had spent 4 hours trying to give an explanation to my Regional Vice President, for the 10 percent drop in sales in January. I felt a feeling of dread hanging over me like a thundercloud, just ready to burst. I had stopped at the 7-11 and purchased a six pack of Bud Lite, and a bag of Doritos. I switched on CNN, waiting to see who America would choose as the poor person who would have to face the fallout from 8 years of a reckless administration gone berserk. I watched, and I waited, I ate my Doritos, I drank a beer, and still there was no clear victor in the Democratic race. Hillary was winning, Barak was winning, here we are in my own short American history, and there is a virtual tie between two candidates, an African American man, and a woman. In my lifetime, I never imagined that I would see such a thing. I cheered as Mike Huckabee won in the southern states, and John McCain emerged as the front runner for the Republicans. I imagined a presidential election with either great Democratic candidate running against a guy who sang a Beach Boy's song and changed the words to "Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran....", and maybe if we're really lucky, the crazy singer will pick as his running mate, a guy who wants to change the Constitution to make it more like the Bible. The Forces in the Universe have somehow conspired to make the choices so clear for Americans, that they simply cannot screw it up this time.
Having eaten every Dorito in my Big Grab Bag, I rummaged in the kitchen for something to munch on. I was rewarded with a sealed box of Cracker Jack, not even past it's expiration date! I opened another beer and listened to Hillary Clinton speak about families and futures and ordinary Americans struggling to be heard. I listened to Barak Obama speak of hope and began to whisper to myself, "yes we can!". Once the pundits stopped telling me what to think, and I could clearly hear the two candidates, I felt this strange sensation coming over me, and I got goose bumps. I felt so proud of my country, and proud of these two brave people who are willing to take on the thankless job of leading our country out of the darkest times we have seen in our short history. I was up until 3:00 am, and I was so stoked, I never even felt tired.
Something is happening in America, and it is happening from Boston to LA, it's happening in Missouri and New Mexico, and it is happening in my lifetime.
