christy frink

morganautumn:

Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters.

Back in October when the third debate happened at Belmont, my friend Danica and I got up in the middle of the night early in the morning to attend a taping of the CBS morning show. John Rich was slated to play his hit atrocity “Raisin’ McCain” and we wanted to see it in person. By complete coincidence (yes, I’m serious) Rich ended up in a crowd full of Obama supporters. We all thought it was pretty hilarious and were already excited to begin with, so a few people started chanting “O-BAM-A.” Several of the folks who were there with the Obama campaign quickly stepped in and asked everyone to stop chanting and be respectful. They said that this wasn’t how Obama wanted to run his campaign and that if we wanted to stay in the background of the shot, we needed to be quiet and gracious about it. I think that was the point at which I realized that these guys were for real.

It’s been a weird day. I woke up with a weird sort of excitement that I didn’t expect to have that turned into a weird mix of butterflies and chills the entire time I was watching the election coverage. About halfway through Obama’s speech, I figured out that the weird new feeling was national pride, which I haven’t really ever known like this. There have been times when I’ve felt a little bit of it, but everything about today made me so proud of this country and the statement we made today. Proud that my country elected a guy whose campaign was built on hope and optimism from start to finish. Proud that we were able to have a beautiful and peaceful and gracious ceremony to recognize the transfer of power from one leader to another for all the world to see. Proud that there weren’t bombs going off in the streets, proud that we don’t have to worry about a military coup because someone didn’t feel like acknowledging the election results, and proud that everyone who cast a vote in November was able to be heard.

Truth be told, I kinda felt sorry for Bush today. It’s no secret that I was never a huge fan, but I also felt like he was on the receiving end of a whole lot of disrespect that should never be given to anyone holding the office of the President. Watching him and Cheney (wheelchair and all) make their way onto the stage felt like the weird closing scene of an epic movie. They almost looked disgraced. And the video footage of the helicopter carrying him out of DC after the festivities was as much sad as it was a relief.

Mostly it felt like the cleaning of the slate. Out with the old and in with the new. Taking all the nastiness and the negativity and the heaviness and the darkness of the past however-many-years and putting it on the next plane out of Washington. And what we’re left with in its place is hope and change and compassion and a desire to serve.

Yeah, I’m more than aware of the fact that (in the words of Boing Boing) “the next four years won’t quite live up to the massive, collective, candy-colored orgasm of hope we experienced today,” but judging by the transformation of attitudes that I’ve seen just as a result of the campaign this past year, I have to hope this is just the beginning.

I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next four years, but I do know that this is the first time I’m excited about it. I realize that not everyone can get on board with that, which is fine, but I hope those of you who can’t will be able to appreciate this day for what it is: Change is here.