Sweetest Hangover!

Remember that song? I think it was from the 70s, a female singer.

"I've got the sweeeetest hangover/
I don't want to get over"

That's how I feel today. Pleasantly hungover and still a little drunk, even. Not from alcohol, but just from pure bliss and relief. My eyes are having trouble reading the good news. I keep tearing up. It is just all too, too much to believe. But it is real. I live in America again! The America I know and love, the one who has been held hostage for the past 8 years. No more apologies, no more pretending I'm Canadian while in Europe. I'm home!

OK, there is still a lot to be done. The battle is hardly won - just look at all the things Bush wants to do before he leaves office (just to insure that Obama's work will be all the harder):

But we won. WE won. The country I know and love, the PEOPLE I know and love, who I always felt I needed to defend while I heard Parisians rail against "les americains" as if we were a nation of aggressive devils. No, no, no, I always wanted to say, MOST of us want peace, MOST of us do NOT agree with Bush and his policies, we've been railroaded by big money and big oil, this is not what we would choose if we had the power!

And now, finally - AT LAST! - we have shown the world just what happens when Americans stand up and fight for a cause they believe in, when ALL of us take to the polls and make our voices heard. I was especially proud last night to see all the young black and brown faces in the crowds on TV, faces that have been exposed to so much bitterness and cynicism - who are now crying and full of joy, full of hope and purpose.

This is truly a transformational moment for America.

And like most real times of change, it was preluded by so much doubt and negativity, so much conviction that "it's not possible." Every step of the way!

Obama can't win against Hillary; he doesn't have enough experience.
WRONG.

Obama can't win against McCain; he won't seem tough enough on foreign policy.
WRONG.

Obama is black, and Americans are too racist to vote for a black man.
WRONG WRONG WRONG!!

The optimist/dreamer in me is so happy to see all of those naysayers proven wrong! On a purely personal level, I feel vindicated, because I have always felt that people are mostly good, not bad, and it's up to our leaders to pull out our innate goodness, our "best selves." Of course it's so much easier to keep people in their comfort or default zones of ignorance and fear, which is what we've seen happen over the last 8 years, with Bush, Cheney et al. That's the easy way to lead. Just keep people apathetic and powerless; make people forget what being a citizen means, what a democracy really is (it isn't what we've had for the last 8 years). What I've loved about Obama from the beginning is his ability to motivate people, to make people WANT to do the right thing, and work harder than they're used to. He demands that we rise to the occasion as citizens of a democracy, that we don't expect our government to run by itself. And he makes us WANT to get involved. It's truly an amazing thing. (Hell, he made me pull my lazy butt out the door to go make calls and knock on doors for him - no politician has ever been able to do that before, even when I liked the candidate!)