[unlocked once I felt more confident that I'd managed to avoid unintentional inflammatory speech]
No matter where you stand in the political spectrum, there's no doubt that right now, as Americans, we really are seeing our world change. I remember visiting a friend, hanging out in his room when we heard his roommate yelling for us to get into the living room. There, we watched a live news feed of the citizens of Berlin pulling down the Wall. I felt like my legs had gone out from under me. To see something that had existed my entire life, crumbling under the force of people willing to say: no more. Amazing. Awesome. Breathtaking.
At the start of the Democratic primary, as the potential nominees dwindled down to two, at times it no longer mattered whether I agreed with both or neither or even the political positions. It was the simple fact that a major party, one of the major parties, could have a black man and a woman neck-and-neck. One way or another, this country would no longer be the same. No longer just white men lined up on the ballot sheet to command our highest offices. For the first time in my life, there was the potential, that the potential of "anyone can be president" would become, finally, an actuality.
In that sense, I find myself marveling at McCain's pick of VP. No matter how you look at it, one way or another, in November, this world I know will no longer be the same. That children across this country -- and those watching us from across borders and oceans -- will see that when this country tosses around the ideal of "any citizen could one day be president" that it's not hollow, it's true. Anyone, black, white, male, female, could achieve a high office of this land.
( That said, over the past few days I've also found myself increasingly frustrated, but the only way to express that is to divide the politics from the personal. )
No matter where you stand in the political spectrum, there's no doubt that right now, as Americans, we really are seeing our world change. I remember visiting a friend, hanging out in his room when we heard his roommate yelling for us to get into the living room. There, we watched a live news feed of the citizens of Berlin pulling down the Wall. I felt like my legs had gone out from under me. To see something that had existed my entire life, crumbling under the force of people willing to say: no more. Amazing. Awesome. Breathtaking.
At the start of the Democratic primary, as the potential nominees dwindled down to two, at times it no longer mattered whether I agreed with both or neither or even the political positions. It was the simple fact that a major party, one of the major parties, could have a black man and a woman neck-and-neck. One way or another, this country would no longer be the same. No longer just white men lined up on the ballot sheet to command our highest offices. For the first time in my life, there was the potential, that the potential of "anyone can be president" would become, finally, an actuality.
In that sense, I find myself marveling at McCain's pick of VP. No matter how you look at it, one way or another, in November, this world I know will no longer be the same. That children across this country -- and those watching us from across borders and oceans -- will see that when this country tosses around the ideal of "any citizen could one day be president" that it's not hollow, it's true. Anyone, black, white, male, female, could achieve a high office of this land.
( That said, over the past few days I've also found myself increasingly frustrated, but the only way to express that is to divide the politics from the personal. )