this is just to say....

[vulgarweed]

It's not a done deal yet, but the polls are looking good. I know there are Republicans reading this, so I just want to give you a warning.

It's been 12 years since I've had the experience of backing a winner. And even then, Bill Clinton going into his second term had disappointed me with numerous sellouts. Overall, I thought his Presidency was good for the country--remember, he left us with a huge budget SURPLUS--and I couldn't care less who sucked his dick and where. But "don't ask don't tell" and NAFTA and welfare "reform" were punches in the gut I won't forgive. Still, he beat the alternatives like a rug.

So if what I think is going to happen happens? I will be dancing in the street, gloating, celebrating, toasting, and yes, saying I'm proud of my country for the first time in, if not my adult life, at least the last 15 years. It's my journal, and that's the kind of thing it's FOR.

If you're feeling just a teeny fraction of the sick existential nausea, paranoia, and distrust/contempt of my fellow man that I felt in November 04 and November and December 00, well - I'm sorry. Believe me, I KNOW what a vile feeling it is. I promise I won't come into your journal and rub it in your face. But I won't bend over backwards to pet you on the head either. Your people HAD power for 8 years and, well, you see where it got us. I know people who have *died* because of lack of ability to afford health care. I know of people who *died* in the war that President Gore would never have started. I know of people who *died* in the ruins of New Orleans when President Kerry would have moved the full force of the Fed immediately to rescue, shelter, and feed them. It's not about a cultural "identity" like your favorite fandom or your favorite band - actual real people's lives hang in the balance of every vote cast, and every small tick upwards in the minimum wage, or advances in health care, or preventing dropouts, or diplomacy instead of saber-rattling, can mean the difference between real individuals, with inner lives as rich as mine or yours, living or dying. I firmly believe that my vote is for hope over fear and life over death. So don't expect me to be all "evenhanded." I will enjoy my celebration fully - for once.

Comments

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear! There are things I don't like about Obama, I have to say, but he is almost infinitely better than the alternative.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Me too, but the alternative is just unthinkable. 4 more years on this death-spiral road (with a candidate who's even more unhinged and erratic and irrational than Bush, and I wouldn't have thought that possible until seeing McCain's deterioration)? Oh HELL no.

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

I don't expect I will ever fully agree with a candidate for any office. *shrugs* It would be unreasonable to think that would happen; heck, I don't agree on everything with my SO, or my sister, or anyone, really.

But oh yeah. McCain would lead this country further, perhaps irrevocably, along the path to destruction. I only hope it's not too late already.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

I have to say, one of the many reasons I admire Obama is his willingness to step into this mess. I know all about Republican pundits' ability to give their guy the credit for everything good and blame the Dem predecessor for everything bad. That won't change.

Chris Rock said, "Typical. White guy gets drunk and makes a mess, and some black guy has to come in and clean it up."

I wouldn't want that job. But it has to be done, and I'm gonna take the first black president of the Harvard Law Review (knowing he had to be at least twice as smart and hard-working as the nearest white candidate for the job) and a U of C Constitutional Law professor, knowing that Bush's interest in the Constitution was pretty much limited to "I don't like this brittle old yellow toilet paper, it's scratchy."

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

*snickers* That's an apt comparison!

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear.

[aphrodeia.livejournal.com]

THIS.

I don't know that Obama will go down in history as a spectacular president. I don't know that anyone would, with what needs to be cleaned up right now. But I know, deep in both heart AND brains, that he will be a much-needed step in the right direction.

And yes, I think I will dance in the streets.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

He has the potential to be, I think - the question is, will circumstances allow him? We don't really know what kind of President JFK would have been if he'd had two terms. We don't know what Carter could have done in his second term if Reagan hadn't made that treacherous deal with Iran.

We DO know what FDR did, having been handed a situation even worse than the one Obama's getting.He wasn't perfect either, but he sure pulled America's bacon out of the fire at least. we need someone like that now. I think Obama has the potential.

[amberdiceless.livejournal.com]

Amen to that. Like the man said, he's not a perfect man and he will not be a perfect President, but at least he's honest enough to stand up and say that to our faces. I think his imperfect best will be much better than McCain could do. *Crosses fingers and will probably leave them that way until Nov. 4*

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

I think I probably won't be able to fully relax and accept it until President Obama's been in office about a year and a half. PTSD, yanno.

I'm not asking for a perfect President. I'm just asking for someone who knows more about the Constitution and foreign policy than I do and is smarter than me. I think Obama and Biden both meet this criteria, McCain might have 20 years ago but is now into Grandpa Simpson yelling-at-clouds territory, and Sarah Palin isn't informed enough to pass muster on my friends list, much less the V-Presidency.

[nenya_kanadka]

I think I probably won't be able to fully relax and accept it until President Obama's been in office about a year and a half. PTSD, yanno.

Hah! *sob* Yeah, me too. It's going to take me a while to relax into "nudging the government towards better behaviour" from "oh God, they really hate us, don't they?" But oh, how I want the chance to try. :D

I'm not asking for a perfect President. I'm just asking for someone who knows more about the Constitution and foreign policy than I do and is smarter than me.

Yes! Obama seems...competent. Level-headed. Smart. Not addicted to war-porn. And I really like listening to him talk about the Constitution. I think I could live with this. :)

[sarken.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Now I'm going to feel bad for my conservative friends, damn it.

...except I fully intend to have drunk enough champagne that my brain-to-keyboard filter will be shut off by the time I make an LJ post, so, you know.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

I don't expect to do much LJing that night....according to plan, my evening will START with the gathering in Grant Park. (This is especially awesome for a Chicagoan; bigger than the Bulls NBA championships and the White Sox in the World Series put together.)

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

*will be dancing with you*

[innocentsmith.livejournal.com]

Wordy McWord. I just...I watched Obama's 30 minute program tonight, and although the cynical, critical part of me was saying, "Oh, well, he has bajillions of dollars so of course he's been able to throw it into really good production and the ability to say what he knows we want to hear..."

I still actually cried. Because, OMG, he was saying what I wanted to hear. He actually knew what that was.

And all of the conservatives who go on about him not having sufficient executive experience? What would you call his campaign?

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Ex.Act.LY. He beat the Clintons before he even got started on McCain - that's not the minor leagues, kids. He's running the best campaign in my adult lifetime.

I didn't cry, but I was deeply touched, because it means so much to have a campaign that actually focuses on helping people instead of a lot of hateful nonsensical ranting about where "real America" and "pro-America" is and isn't. (I really started loathing this tactic in '04 when the whole Republican line was about Massachusetts somehow being "anti-American." Hello, BOSTON TEA PARTY, you culturally illiterate motherfuckers.)

[without-me.livejournal.com]

ROCK THE FUCK ON.

[ea-lyons.livejournal.com]

I voted the other day for Obama, mom voted for Obama too. :D Stepdad voted for Ron Paul, but that can't be helped as he's Catholic and they're weird at least he didn't vote for McCain.

Have you heard yet about the Austin, TX woman that had her Obama signs stolen out of her yard? I thought her solution was awesome. She went out and bought some spraypaint and painted the Obama-symbol on her front lawn. How cool is that?! :D

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Hey, voting for Ron Paul's OK. No problem with that. I'm trying to get my libertarian boss to vote for Bob Barr instead of McCain.

I did see the pictures of that lady's yard. AWESOME, she did a great job.

My friend hopita, who lives in PA, put a notice up that for every piece of junk mail, spam, canvassing, or robo-calling for McCain she gets, she's donating $5 to the Obama campaign. I hope that catches on. :D

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Gloat while the gloating is good, I say

[ms-katonic.livejournal.com]

Very well said. And very true. This is not a sports result; people's lives are on the line here.

I don't want to get complacent but I am very much looking forward to President Obama.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

I am looking forward to it SO MUCH, and I can't promise and don't want to jinx, but the polls really do look really good.

All I want is a President who's highly intelligent and well-read and well-traveled and capable of thinking in paragraphs. It's amazing how low the bar has become after eight years of the wet-brained overcompensating frat boy. (Hell, as a Southerner, I just want a President who doesn't pander to the cheap seats with an insulting Beverly Hillbillies fake accent. That REALLY should not be too much to ask, should it?)

[labellerose.livejournal.com]

Preach it. sister!

[chase820.livejournal.com]

Couldn't have said it better. Though honestly, I'm less sympathetic than you are towards disappointed Republicans.

[quantum-witch.livejournal.com]

There are life-long Republicans whom I love on a personal level -- my in-laws -- and they have had much to legitimately complain about in the last several years, but they'd never openly admit it was due to policies of the man they voted for (twice) as "a Uniter, not a Divider", and they'll still vote for the same old crap. They are "values voters", and probably would rather trust someone from their own era. Not sure yet what they think about the VP they'll be voting for...

My own insane family, no matter the deeply entrenched Southern attitude, no matter the edges of racism that peeked out in the household sometimes while I was growing up, all of them were behind Obama before Hillary even stepped down. Now that fucking says something.

Nah, Obama won't be perfect. Who the hell ever has been? But he's made me feel something I haven't felt in ages when it comes to being an American -- the possibility that I might be proud of that fact someday, instead of feeling the need to apologise for it.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

I had a memorable experience two years ago, drinking with an Irish anarchist (self-described) in a hotel bar in Kuala Lumpur. He was full of vile invective about America as it is now - and I have to say, I couldn't disagree with him much - but when the name of Bill Clinton came up, he immediately got reverent. He sang the praises of Bill Clinton and how great America was when he was President, and how much the Irish loved him and always would, for, like, EVER. I couldn't get a word in edgewise and after a while I gave up trying.

Why? For all his flaws, Bill Clinton was/is a diplomat. Negotiating peace settlements between camps that have hated each other for 500 years is something he enjoys as much as he enjoys blowjobs, and it shows. He's curious, interested, compassionate, and knowledgeable. He finds other cultures interesting and wants to help in a sincere way. I see a lot of that in Obama - I got that from reading his first book, where he talks about his experiences as a child in Indonesia, and a half-black half-white teenager in Hawaii, and a young man visiting his relatives in Kenya for the first time.

Compare that to the Shrub, who on his first visit to Brazil rode from the airport in a limo with blacked-out windows, and later came out with such gems as "Wow, it's a big country!" and "Oh, do you have blacks here?"

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear! Those of us who've supported Obama are entitled to one night of unbridled celebration if he wins this thing. It's not like he won't disappoint us soon enough (after all, even if he is better than McCani, he's still a politician, and I've never heard of a perfect one of those!).

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

All marriages are matters of compromise in the long term, and they surely all have times of frustration and enragement, but if you're not enough of a romantic to enjoy the wedding night and honeymoon to the fullest, why bother? :D

[debbyl65.livejournal.com]

Love it! There is going to be a lot of Snoopy dancing around my house and nobody better not say nothin' about it.

Drive-by comment...

[auctasinistra.livejournal.com]

I couldn't have said it better myself. Only ruder.

[nenya_kanadka]

Yes! I *WILL* be celebrating if Obama wins, and I will NOT try to keep the noise down for fear of upsetting my relatives who voted the other way. We've earned that, those of us who have supported him and have screamed and cried during these last eight years of incompetence and bad decisions.

I have my issues with Obama, but I think he is still a great pick for President. I *cannot wait* to be able to call him that for real. I cannot wait to actually look up to the man who runs the country, for once.

(P.S. I am finally friending you. It's about time: you lurk in similar sections of Teh ElJay as I do, and seem quite interesting. Hope you don't mind?)