Well...Obama won. He won and won big. I have seen many a posts, blogs, bulletins, and status updates from both sides. I am only here to let you in on my thoughts today as they seem to be bigger than myself and I feel the need to let them out here. Theraputically, putting my thougths down helps me hack thru them and my hopefully open a dialogue with those of you who may disagree w/me. Not a fight. Not you telling me I am an idiot. I am not. You arent either. We may have a difference of opinion. There has to be a way to talk about that. As a friend on my list I have to know you, respect you, and have some appreciation of who you are. Therefore, You can not be an idiot....you see its that simple.
I saw the results come in and the declaration of the win and was in shock. I saw Obama speak 4 years ago and said he would do it...I told many many ppl to remember that name. Some of you may remember me telling you then. I must have on some level thought We as a ppl COULD or WOULD actually do it! We lived up to the true meaning of our creed....we did not "overlook the urgency of the moment" we found "an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality"-tears came to me...as McCain spoke. That McCain last night, where has he been? That's the guy I remember...the McCain of pre2000...the real across party line maverick..the man I could have voted for. Not this time...but I am glad he didnt die with the campaign. I missed John McCain. I was happy to see him back.
I have also realized the impact of some of the Bush doctrine on my own life in a real way.
Obama said (I am paraphrasing to a point)"-I will listen to you ESPECIALLY when we disagree...for those of you who didnt vote for me for those of you I have not yet won your support...I hear your voices..and I will be YOUR President too--" I cried and cried over that line it was the most powerful to me...and I couldnt figure out why it was so powerful to me..what was it about that line that hit me so hard? I was sobbing like a bitch ppl..I figured out today why (day after clarity)...because I disagreed w/Bush a lot..and when I said I disagreed I was told I was Unpatriotic..UnAmerican...Shameful...etc. I was sent hatemail to my house by someone who didnt know me...it was all done because of the administration's stance that if you disagreed you were unpatriotic...ect...by extension my voice was gone...if i am those things by defintion i am not a patriot i am not an american.. i have no country I have no president...the impact of that did not hit...until he said those words..I have my country back....I am an American again..I AM!
I am amazed and proud at this country for fulfilling a dream... fulfilling a dream which began long before a man 1960's articulated it! I am not nieve enough to think that this election has done away w/the clan or skinheads or my parents generation of prejudice/racism or any generations prejudices/racism. But it does mean that the generation coming up and the ones to follow actually embody the spirit articulated in that dream...the most powerful part of the dream was realized in the vote..no matter the smears, no matter the attacks, no matter that he is a black man, NO MATTER he transcended that and gained white votes, black votes, brown votes, young votes and even some old votes....he showed that we now live in a nation where you are not judged by the color of your skin but by the content of your character. Some are angry. Some are scared for the country. Guess what..they are no longer the majority! Those of you who are...I am sorry. I felt this country was going to self implode when Bush was re elected. We endured. We are a strong nation. We will survive Obama. I am hoping to reassure you. We have a nation of checks and balances. We will survive. In my opinion we will be better off. I have hope and a drive to see what tomorrow brings like never before.....those of you who do not have this hope you do not.. I understand that...but Let me have my moment in the sun!
Those of you who know me well know I always say.."well you know me I can't be made happy" this victory came close..but my motto stands true..here is my complaint..and I am sure this will get me more shunning but I never have given a damn about all that!
We have come so far..but my head is about to blow w/these ppl saying "the civil rights war is over" when we repealed the laws allowing gay marriage in this country in 3 out of 4 states. We are treating the gay community as if they are second class citizens and actually removing rights from a group of ppl which were given to them.
I am straight always have been and always will be. I love God and read the bible so dont sent me religious hate mail. I dont see how this is my business and how it is ok to say to a group of ppl who want to be in a committed relationship w/rights that they can not! It is not going to corrupt our society if it was going to it would have by now...ppl are doing it now..they just are being denied RIGHTS by law...thats all.....King said these words about ppl of color in what is called his Dream speech I have simply applied it to the current struggle here....
"So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, nad the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of the gay/lesbian/transgender community are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the GLT people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice....Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of ... injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."
I wish for my Uncle, my cousin, my friends, my co-workers. We could just stop thinking about what is right and wrong for others and focus on our own homes our own lives not deny the rights of this group any longer and bring justice to this cause!
We moved forward last night. I have high enthusiasm. I feel like it is all possible. My daughter can be WHATEVER she dreams to be. My son will never know a country who thought this was not possible. We live in a great nation. One that can change.
I end w/King's words...he must be smiling down w/great happiness today:
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Love to you all :)
