My Countdown Test Has Been Passed…And Obama Passes His Test As Well!

Posted on | November 5, 2008 | Author: | DanS | 1 Comment

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Convincingly. Not since 1988 has a majority of popular voting Americans handed over the Presidency of the United States with such convict. To back this up, check here, here, here, here, here and here for proof of the vigour.

When I find something wonderful has happened in my life (my fiance telling me ‘I do,’ the birth of my daughter, solving a nagging problem, watching my sports teams win championships), I often find myself in a mindless whirl of joy and happiness that is incurable, a spirit and fire of optimism that is unrevokable by any authority. No, I don’t think I’m so untouchable that I can go around looting!

The announcement of Obama’s triumph early this morning put me in such a feeling of wonder. So happy I am that it reminds me of a memorable Leigh Montville piece in 2004 for The Boston Globe that spoke of all the things that now seemed possible thanks to his beloved Boston Red Sox’ capture of the World Series after an 86-year dry spell.

Baseball can have that affect on people, but to carry on Montville’s theme (I really encourage you to read it above) to Obama is an opportunity that evokes such sympathies. That announcement at 4am Greenwich Meridian Time had me feeling like I was flying as well. Imagine what it must feel like for those who had never entertained the notion of a black-skinned person in the White House within their life span.

Suddenly, these people could fly, just as Montville did that cool October evening four years ago.

Suddenly, these people – not just Americans, but people similar to them worldwide – found all sorts of things possible. Similarities that extended in the way of hope, dreams, goals and possibilities, not just in the colour of their skin and origins of the ancestry. Skin colour truly meant nothing now to this new world premonition. I include myself in this mix. ‘These people’ becomes ‘We.’

And, oh, what wonderful things we could do…

We could walk down the street with a smile permanently affixed to our faces like Lenny Leonard in an old Simpsons episode. All without the plastic surgery.

We could eat brussel sprouts and not be repulsed by them.

We could swim the English Channel, hop on a plane to the Eastern tip of Russia, and swim the Bering Strait to Alaska, all without getting cold or bitten by Alaskan King Crabs.

We could then go home and eat those seasoned crabs whole with a side of Mediterranean vegetables, a chicken caesar salad, crusty bread made by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and a glass of chardonnay and have plenty of room for dessert.

We could use our imagination in a way that had the capacity to let the vegetarians in our group amend their meals slightly.

We could finally get through to our stubborn teenage children.

We could finally get through to our bullheaded parents.

We could go out and buy that car we always dreamt about without financing.

We could wake up in November and not have to turn on the heater. You wouldn’t have to in the Florida Keys.

We could find legitimate reason to weep with joy for the first time on Election Tuesday, just as the Rev. Jesse Jackson did.

We could Bend it like Beckham, unframe Roger Rabbit, fix the electrical flaws in The Towering Inferno, cross A Bridge Too Far, and even spend Seven Years in Tibet.

We didn’t think twice, it’s alright. We picked up good vibrations. We knew how to love, so we knew we’d stay alive. We took a sad song and made it better. We emancipated ourselves from mental slavery. We imagined all the people living life in peace, then we saw it happen firsthand as we sat on the dock of the bay, wasting time.

We could hang pictures of ‘our president’ on the wall just like my old landlord in Oklahoma still does for Ronald Reagan.

We could all dunk on Yao Ming and earn a trip to the free-throw line (and if you think that the sport of basketball won’t experience a rise in popularity because of Obama, you don’t know the man. Lefty can play, and Lefty likes to play!)

We could all drink clean water and put Evian and their like out of business.

We could do anything. And we feel now like we can do anything.

For as much good (my opinion) as has come out of Tuesday, November 4, 2008, the endless possibilities created by Obama’s election to the Presidency does something else: it allows the US to finally have the meat on their ‘land of the free, home of the brave’ T-bone. The possibilities that now have arisen provides Yanks with a sudden jolt, creating a vibe that every American is now free. They didn’t need to be brave to put a Black American in the White House: They simply find themselves today trusting someone who they felt had better ideas than his opponent for the premiere leadership role in Western civilisation. Just as these Americans have so often done in the last 220 years.

And as a result, amidst all the gloom that Barack Obama inherits and hopes to fix this coming January, things are looking up. Because we did have the ability to make the mantra of change into the beginnings of a dear political and social goal. I’m soaring above the clouds, and I have a whole lot of friends up here with me.

You’re more than welcome to join us.