It's All Over But the Work

The new era dawned today, a little windy, but somewhat warm, in DC. Things seemed to be quite normal. But things were a little different too. I saw more American flags than I have seen in my time here so far. I get the feeling that people are proud to be Americans a little bit more today than they were yesterday. My classmates and the snippets of conversation I heard on the bus/metro all seemed to echo the same sentiment—finally, change has come. And why shouldn’t they be happy? After all the debate and arguing and talking, an African American was elected the President of the United States of America. People can say race doesn’t matter, but the fact that this has occurred is a monumental moment in the history of this country. After all that has happened, it seems that Dr. King’s dream is becoming a little more real. There are strides to go, of course, but I just think of some young African American kid sitting in a DC public school class who is told they can be anything they want. And today that dream might seem a bit more real to that kid than it would have a few months ago. Clearly not everyone is pleased, and as happy as people have been today, people know the expectation that rests with Obama. It is monumental. The country has so many issues. But maybe for the first time in a long, long time, people will be inspired. Maybe the US’s standing in the world view can be healed a bit. I certainly hope so. I think that is why Obama won. People want to be inspired. Hopefully that inspiration will translate into action and a better country, and even world.

Okay, so enough gushing. Let’s be honest. The Democrats have control. They have no excuses, so if they aren’t able to solve the dire situations that face this country, they have no one to blame but themselves this time. I think it okay to swing to either side and give each side a shot. Random Example: I have a friend who voted for Obama as part of what he calls his “Romney strategy”. His reasoning is that Obama isn’t going to be able to fix the problems (could make them worse), and so in four years the country will be ready for something (else) new. We will have to see on the specifics of that particular plan. But honestly, the Republicans better be getting ready to reinvent some part of themselves, because if things do go badly for the Democrats, the Republicans will be in good position for victory in four years.

Well, that is going to be it for me and politics for awhile. School. Papers. Reading. That is what I really need to do…