One journey's over; another begins

Dear Rest Of The World:

We didn't fuck it up.

Signed, America

Dear America:

Congrats!

Regards, Rest Of The World

--from a comment thread on reddit

It's time.

--headline on the cover of THE ECONOMIST

I stayed up past 1:00 a.m. last night. I can't remember the last time I did that, and I've certainly never boycotted sleep in favour of something political.

I'm glad I did this time. Looking at the coverage of the huge Obama rallies all over the United States and the world gives me chills, goosebumps....and something else I've never associated with anything political: hope.

Hope. Obama ran his entire campaign around hope and change. The "change" was an easy sell: even most Republicans are sick and tired of the current state of the union. "Hope" is a much more potent and potentially dangerous word, because it means whatever you want it to mean, and it's flat impossible to live up to everyone's expectations. 

Reality will set in, as reality so often insists on doing, very soon after January 20, 2009. (Why such a long interregnum, anyway? That's one of the things that scares me, is that Dubya has more than two months to cook up some parting shots and loose them on the world. And he may not have to lift a finger: the election rally on the Dow notwithstanding, the economic collapse proceeds apace.) How Obama plans to raise the financial capital to implement new policies very much remains to be seen.

That said, I share the widespread optimism. Electing a black man to the highest office in the land is a giant leap forward for America. Electing "that one" potentially represents an even bigger leap forward. If Obama runs the country the way he ran his campaign, he'll be unflappable in the face of whatever is thrown at him. He'll enlist millions of Americans and harness the power of  the Internet to effect societal change. Completely independent of his politics, Barack Obama represents a new generation and his worldview is a breath of fresh air. There will be no ignoring the environment on Obama's watch, particularly not on the grounds that the Lord is coming soon, so what's the point? 

And an obligatory mention that isn't obligatory at all: Senator John McCain gave what I sincerely believe is the most gracious concession speech I've ever heard. The man has my respect. I do think that many of the, ahem, more questionable, Palinistic decisions he's made over the course of the campaign were to some degree pressed on him by his party.

A few words about that party. There's a joke making the rounds lately, to wit:

"Why don't many Republicans believe in evolution?"

"Because they've gone from Abraham Lincoln to George W. Bush. You wouldn't, either."

The GOP is desperately in need of a revitalizing, moderating force. Sadly, they're unlikely to go looking for one, let alone find one. It's the moderate Republicans that by and large have been booted from both Houses, leaving behind a rump, with all the stink that entails. Palin's already musing about 2012. Social conservatism is still, inexplicably, a huge vote-getter in the Excited States of America. (Perhaps the only bitter undertaste I have today concerns the passing of propositions to deny same-sex couples the right to marry. They passed easily in Arizona and Florida, and as I write this Proposition 8 in California looks likely to pass, albeit narrowly.) 

Congratulations to Barack Obama. Congratulations to Americans, who've shown (just when many of us had given up hope) that they can live up to the noble ideals on which their country was founded.