Well it's over and done. We have a new president elect, Barack Obama. What an amazing time to be an American! It's been crazy, with everything from inspiring speeches to conniving beetches (heh) and all points in between. But as I watched nearly 150,000 people in Grant park, Chicago, cheering and crying, hugging each other and all else..it struck me that history is well and truly made today. Everyone thought, myself included, that this race would be so close due to divisions in the thinking of the American public over whether many white peope could live with an African-American president. Yet, the spirit that has made this country great before came through today when Obama won by quite a large electoral margin.
John McCain had one of the most elegant and classy concession speeches I have ever heard; he had nothing but praise and admiration for Obama. When there were boos from the audience of his headquarters, he immediately hushed them, looking embarrassed and impatient about the outbursts..He then called upon all Americans to help Obama by supporting him and mending the rifts between the parties that have been so problematic for the country. By the time McCain was done, people were cheering the idea of supporting their new president-elect.
I was proud of this country today. That is something I cannot often say. As Oprah put it, "the last time America came together so completely was in the aftermath of 9/11 and that was a tragedy." That is true for me as well. I haven't felt such a sense of unity from this country in a long, long time.
I remember another time I was proud of history being made--when the Berlin Wall came down.
It truly was inspiring to hear nearly 150,000 people scream out, "Yes we can." I can't even imagine how it must have felt for those who were involved in the civil rights marches and movement of the 60's. It must have been deeply moving for anyone who was ever forced to the back of the bus, pushed away from the water fountains, or made to take literacy tests or pay poll taxes in order to vote--to see a black man become president of the United States. Today, America was the beautiful.
John McCain had one of the most elegant and classy concession speeches I have ever heard; he had nothing but praise and admiration for Obama. When there were boos from the audience of his headquarters, he immediately hushed them, looking embarrassed and impatient about the outbursts..He then called upon all Americans to help Obama by supporting him and mending the rifts between the parties that have been so problematic for the country. By the time McCain was done, people were cheering the idea of supporting their new president-elect.
I was proud of this country today. That is something I cannot often say. As Oprah put it, "the last time America came together so completely was in the aftermath of 9/11 and that was a tragedy." That is true for me as well. I haven't felt such a sense of unity from this country in a long, long time.
I remember another time I was proud of history being made--when the Berlin Wall came down.
It truly was inspiring to hear nearly 150,000 people scream out, "Yes we can." I can't even imagine how it must have felt for those who were involved in the civil rights marches and movement of the 60's. It must have been deeply moving for anyone who was ever forced to the back of the bus, pushed away from the water fountains, or made to take literacy tests or pay poll taxes in order to vote--to see a black man become president of the United States. Today, America was the beautiful.
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