Tuesday, January 20, 2009


From Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake:

It's hard to fully comprehend the fact that Barack Hussein Obama is now President of the United States.
The notion of American exceptionalism has been used to rationalize everything from Manifest Destiny to our current forays into nation building, and it frequently goes hand in hand with the idea that the West in in decline. But the faces of the two million people on the mall today, standing as proxies for the 63 million who turned out to vote for Barack Obama last November, are testament to the fact that America is not doomed to decline but rather equal to the task of reinventing herself in the twenty-first century. That as a people we are capable of shaking off antiquated notions, failed ideas and ideologies, our prejudices and our obsolete certitudes as we see them to be inadequate to address the profound challenges before us.

We now have a President whose experience is informed by a multiracial, multicultural and international heritage. Never before has there been a world leader of Obama's stature who reflects the face of an increasingly globally interdependent planet, whose very existence fundamentally challenges the narrow assumptions of class and race that have determined a narrow corridor of ideas that have limited our palate of choices. As he assumes the American Presidency, we have shown that as a nation we have retained the heritage of our radical founders, and are bold enough and brave enough to open up not only our own country but the world to the talented individuals and the leadership we need to reinvigorate ourselves.

If America is truly an exceptional nation, there is no clearer manifestation of that than the fact that we had the courage to elect Barack Obama.


Oh yeah.

That's why we watched the inauguration and that's why the woman cried.

And then the dog ate her tissues.

5 comments:

Lilibet said...

Thank Goodness! We could have been watching a McCain / Palin moment last night!

I cried and I'm not American, but I am a big social justice and equality believer. Go OBAMA!

My husband asked me why I was watching an "American inauguration" and I politely informed him that it was not an "American inauguration" it is a WORLD inauguration, with global repercussions, thank you very much, and that considering the history of race relations in the USA, it is a very significant event and that he had better FAIT ATTENTION!

Darla said...

It was a wonderful day. I have high hopes for our new President.

Eclipse

Anonymous said...

You don't seem to be paying much attention, Pearl!

Anonymous said...

Dinah did the Happy Dance on election night, but she still watched tv yesterday in spite of being busy.[When she is happy she sometimes gives us an extra treat.;)]

Parker said...

Oh it was magical!!!