History and Hope

I'm so overcome, I can only share ideas from others:

Will Richardson:

Doesn’t matter who you voted for, history was made last night. I, for one, am happy for my kids.

No matter how the impact of paper newspapers is declining, at moments like these, there’s still nothing like the front page of the paper, not the website, that gives me goosebumps. And in that vein, I’m cruising through the hundreds of covers from around the world at Newseum. Amazing.

Cristina Pippa at Crucial Minutiae:

There’s a 180-pound dog lurking upstairs, terrifying our 180-pound dog. He doesn’t eat as much or slobber on my books or even spill lattes on my computer, but Porter is convinced that he’s the scariest dog in town. Maybe that’s because he’s the biggest he’s ever seen. When he approaches this beast, Porter’s bony legs quake and yipes of fright escape his underbite. Why would I keep this monster around? Because I can’t catch him.

The phantom lab/mastiff lives in a full-length mirror in the hallway.

Why tell you about a dog’s neuroses? Because I wonder how we all might react when suddenly confronted with our own greatness. Our country stands before a mirror tomorrow. Late tomorrow night, we’ll see what we look like and what we’re capable of.

Follow the link to see the puppeh in question.

Epiphany in Baltimore:

She smiled. Then she said, "Well, you know what? I'm just so proud of white people. Cuz, you know, when Jesse Jackson was running a while back, I just voted for him because he was black. I admit it. Now I hear the crazy things he says and can't believe I'd vote for someone because of that. But you white people, you're not like that. You didn't vote for McCain just because he was white. I'm so proud of you! All you white people!"

"I'm proud of all of us," I said, grabbed my wine and headed back out into the drizzle while chuckling at the goofy, but happy, moment that had jut happened. I waited 2.5 hours to vote today, more than two hours longer than I ever have waited before, and sometimes in spitting rain. It felt good, though. Felt like I was making history. Felt part of a movement, which is one of the greatest feelings a person can have.

Ohio just went for Obama. Never before have I actually voted for someone with so little cynicism. Obama isn't perfect, but he's the leader we need right now.

Oh, Epiphany, Hallelujah! A friend told me about long lines, where they warned people how long they would wait, and they stayed in line. Church groups were meeting at the polls and and hugging and voting together. God bless this country and all the people who stood in line, sat in wheelchairs, strolled in and VOTED. As Will said, it doesn't matter which way they voted. It matters that they cared enough about the future to do something about it. And Cristina, I am so proud of what I saw in the mirror yesterday, and I can't see what's the horizon, but I think it's going to be good.

Finally, Dina shares more hopeful ideas, and quotes my hero, as well:

• Every vote in New York is checked six times by equal numbers of unpaid members of the majority and minority parties.
• Republican and Democratic commissioner alike for my county had hilariously snooty scorn to heap upon voting procedures in Florida. “None of that around here,” they sniffed. “You’re in line at 9 PM, you vote. Period.”
• As a pollworker one can, in fact, accept orange juice and doughnuts bought by a bipartisan slush fund without compromising one’s integrity.
• Write-in candidates for office in New York have more often included Mickey Mouse than Charlton Heston.[....]
• Obama won.

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me, the
Rock, the River, the Tree, your country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, into
Your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning

~ Maya Angelou

Le happy sigh. Don't miss xkcd's take on post-election let-down.