Most of the historical events of my lifetime have occurred while I was watching TV. For instance, on November 4th, Election Day in the U.S., I was bouncing on top of the comfy leather couch in my mom's room, watching the elctoral map closely. When Barack Obama was declared President-Elect of the United States, I was actually checking the time on my computer.
"ADORA!" my mother bellowed. I rushed to the TV. The first thing noticed--"Barack Obama Elected" in the corner of the screen. I shouted loudly and jumped on the couch. I was relieved that Obama had kept the election from John McCain's clutches--and by a glorious amount, too.
At the same time, it was very depressing to hear McCain's concession speech. It would have been easier if he had acted ingracious, angry, and more Bush-like, because then we could have been more joyous about Obama's victory. Unfortunately, McCain was gracious, sad, and resigned to his fate.
Obviously, the outcome of this election was extremely important to me. As a shamelessly partisan Democrat, I did not want to imagine a McCain administration. That was made even more frightening by the idea of Governor Sarah Palin becoming vice president.
Although I can understand why the historical aspect of this race has great importance to many, I believe that this election is historically significant not just for the color of the candidate's skin, but also because of the practical fact that a Democrat will be our next president. At the same time, I believe that this election has shown that we have made large steps on the path toward racial equality. Despite your own political affiliation (and I hope that I have not offended too many people), I think that, in such interesting times, this election is of humongous gravity no matter what.
Hi Adora. I've read about you two years ago and it's only today when I finally come into your blog. (What a great writer you are!). I also has a great passion for writing so I hope I can learn more from you.
ReplyDeletep/s: I don't know much about the election but I hope it will bring goods for you and your country!
I agree full time with happydaily.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK I remember how happy everyone was when Tony Blair came to power...
ReplyDeleteIt's maybe a bit early to be jumping on the couch
Bobby
Any human leader is limited by human failings and by what is humanly possible, and history is full of failed rulerships, many that started out well but something went wrong. (If any rulership was really perfect, then why isn't it still around?) Some religions say that this demonstrates man is not capable of ruling by himself and should instead submit to a superhuman power like God. People called humanists believe that man can sort himself out and doesn't need a superhuman to help. (Sometimes they point out the bad things that religions have done, but that's not really relevant because a real superhuman nice guy would probably not recognize any religion with bad behavior as being the right one anyway. The real question is, do we need superhuman intervention or can we manage by ourselves.) It will be interesting to see how things turn out.
ReplyDeleteYou'd better not let this comment go public, as it could spark a stream of fanatical religious or anti-religious commentary from others which you don't want to waste time with. That's the problem with blogs. I wish there was a way of marking this comment as "please keep private".
Hi Adora! Please check out my story at www.flickistan.com/herael! Hope you like it!
ReplyDelete