Last night I cared. I cried a bit when CNN announced that Sen. Obama had won the election. I cried more when I saw Rev. Jesse Jackson crying. I have unending respect for the Rev. Jackson, and I grew up in a city where his voice rose above so many others and what he said made listening worthwhile.
It felt incredibly good to be a part of this country last night.
This morning brought with it a few sour notes that I cannot pretend away. Proposition 8 passed in California. Initiative 424 passed in Nebraska. A proposition to prevent unmarried couples from adopting passed. Maine split their electoral votes. Nebraska did not. Although it was heartening to see that Saline county went blue along with Lancaster and Douglas counties. It was good to see and hear how many people went to the polls, regardless of their affiliations.
My one cultural issue with the Obama/Biden campaign (oh how fun it will be to teach our spellcheckers to get rid of the nasty red lines there) had nothing to do with the candidates, and in fact, is an attitude that was not preached by that campaign. It is the sense that the President will be responsible for fixing everything. It is the willingness to alleviate our own responsibilities by burdening our newly elected President. It is the disillusionment of the last decades come to fruition in the unkindest of ways: okay, we voted you in, now change everything and change it in the way we want it changed. Yes, we can change things, we can create an environment in which change is more readily acceptable, though it comes with pains, as it must. In order to live up to that promise we cannot sit back and become complacent and allow ourselves to remain ignorant and aloof and apathetic. No longer do we have the excuse that dissenting voices are not heard. We have the example of those who attempted "revolution" only to find heartache, violence, imprisonment and the pointlessness of wasted passion.
Much of the last administration has left a stain on the collected soul and character of our nation. Last night's election showed that we are beginning to understand what we need to do in order to heal these newest wounds. We still have some very old wounds to heal as well. Rifts that have never been addressed. Horrors unacknowledged.
I do not envy President-Elect Obama his job. It is one that I have never wanted for myself. I believe that the best leadership is provided by those who see a leader as the person with the best organizational and management skills. Leaders who see leadership as giving service through strong communication skills and good hiring practices are people who understand that the ultimate aim of this country is to perpetuate itself in a sustainable and effective way, not to provide leaders with power, deification and a rowdy, uneducated public easily swayed and easily mollified.
We have, for far too long, allowed ourselves not to be lead but to be corralled. We maintain our silence at our peril. We believe what we are told about ourselves to our shame.
There are conversations that need to be held, hosted, encouraged and participated in: What is a conservative thinker, what is a liberal thinker, are they different from republican thinkers and democratic thinkers and what are those as well? What is ethical government, is it desirable, how do we discuss ethics in government, real or imagined? What is the purpose of education and how do/don't schools live up to that? Are we engaged in denying human rights to people? How do we approach that?
I believe that even engaging in these conversations allows for greater thought and purpose to action. Actively making decisions in life, as far as we can, is part of what makes a life well-lived.
