Good Night.

[wileypeter]

By the time my son greets the world, this country will see an African-American in the Oval Office.

He will grow up in a reality different from that of my youth. Yeah, there was always a possibility that someone of color would lead the nation, but possibility has almost nothing to do with reality.

As hard as it is for me to accept (in light of the foul taste the last two Presidential elections left in my mouth), this is now a real thing. The USA not only elected a black man, but one with a profoundly non-anglo name. I keep waiting the sudden lateral motion of a rug being pulled out from under my feet, but I may have to set aside my preemptive acceptance of defeat.

By the time my son greets the world, this country will see an African-American in the Oval Office.

Maybe this shouldn't mean as much as I'm making it. It may just end up being another politician garnering enough support to gain power. But dammit, it does mean something that in this case the politician is someone who would have been hanged by a mob for daring to speak out in a time not too long past.

That barrier may still bar some good candidate from that office in the future, but no longer is it an unimaginable thing to have a black President. We still need to see a woman elected, and I would be thrilled to see a great woman leader take down the opposition in a future election (preferably 2016). Right now I see it happening before my son is old enough to vote. The reality must change. The barriers must drop. It won't mean my son has a greater chance to be President. The opposite would be true, really. The point would be, rather, that the world my son will inherit from my wife & me won't be as limited a world as we received, and one in which the best probabilities aren't ruled out by a non-sequitur like gender or race.

Comments

[cleverkitten.livejournal.com]

This election frustrated me so much. Mostly because of the ignorant things I heard coming out of peoples mouths. "Obama is a secret Muslim!" Some churches were even preaching that Obama is the antichrist! It really opened my eyes to how ignorant a lot of people in the U.S. still are, and it's so disheartening. That being said, I am so excited for the next 4 (8?) years. I think he's going to do wonderful things for this country. We're FINALLY changing.

[wileypeter]

Yeah, my mind boggled at the crap people swallowed about him, and the fact that it was put out in the first place. Obama was a given in my state, so I was largely spared any discussion of him, aside from whether or not he was as good as his fans felt he was.

I hope he can do a good job. This is one hell of a mess that he's inheriting from Bush & Friends, and the American People aren't always a patient group, and it's going to take a lot of work and some time to dig us out of this hole.

[max-j.livejournal.com]

Not only is MG2 not hiring, but Adam and I both got laid off today, along with dozens of others. So we will be joining the job hunt as well. *sigh*

I think we'll be ok - but we're a bit freaked out.

[wileypeter]

Aw, damn.

I really hope you two land on your feet soon. You both have experience, so there's that. I'm rooting for you. (Of course, it's easier for each of us to root for one another, being in different job markets!)

Woo Hoo! No Rossi! (I'm biased, but still.)

[max-j.livejournal.com]

We have experience, we have a good network of contacts and we do have a decent severance package. It's going to suck for a while but I do think we'll be ok. And with both of us unemployed we can motivate each other.

I might be happier about Gregoire's reelection than I am about Obama's election. Rossi (as our realtor put it) is a lying sack of shit. Now, if Darcy Burner defeats Dave Reichert in their race for US Rep, I will be happy all around with the election results.

[wileypeter]

Too bad about Burner. Sounds like the Seattle Times had an ax to grind there. The Oregonian endorsed (and propped up) Gordon Smith, but he'd gone really, really, really negative early on and too few voters got that taste out of their mouths to retain him his Senate seat.

[max-j.livejournal.com]

PS, super excited that Obama was elected, and most of our state races have turned out the way we hoped, too.