The Middle Distance

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.