First things First

So. I was going to wait until everything was ready to start posting. Get the template fully customized to my liking, and then start out by laying down the ground rules, explaining what this blog is all about, and so forth. But there's an energy in the air, a recognition that something wonderful has happened, even though things have gone pretty much just as planned. So, I'm pushing that all aside to make my thoughts known. First things first.

Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama.

In the last month or two - basically, since Palin was picked as a running mate, and the Republican National Convention - I've been following the American election obsessively, cautiously optimistic about Obama's steady ascent from that point onward but fearing the worst. It's been nerve-wracking at times, and there's so much to say; I hope you'll forgive me a bit of disorganization in my thoughts.

As I write this, Obama stands at 338 called or probable electoral votes. Coming in to tonight, I had my fingers crossed for 360 - to make it a 2:1 lead in the Electoral College. There are three very close races to go - Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina - and it will take two of those to reach my mark. The results might not be known for a long time. I've heard it said that Georgia's results so far aren't counting the early voting - but I doubt that would flip the state anyway. Meanwhile, Ohio is looking awfully close for a state that was called so early. But in any event, Obama's presidency is a sure thing now.

Now, I'm no American, so maybe you'll think I'm disqualified from talking about American patriotism. You might say I'm in no position to say what's right for the country. But the rest of the world seems to be in pretty good agreement that the US didn't fuck up this time. Certainly, a straw poll of my friends indicates unanimous agreement. And I'd like to take a moment to talk about my impression of what American patriotism is, or at least ought to be.

When Obama's adoring crowds cheer "Yes We Can! Yes We Can!", to me, the message is obvious. The phrase - three short syllables - is a natural surrogate for that all-too-common chant, "U. S. A.! U. S. A!". The same rhythm. The same nominal purpose. But when a large majority of the country doesn't think it's headed in the right direction, it's easy to see why Obama's version has more pull as a rallying cry.

The "U. S. A.!" chant is one that strikes many foreigners as silly. It's heard in situations where Canadians would never imagine chanting "Ca-na-da!". It's practically on the level of soccer hooliganism. It carries the message of the GOP version of patriotism: "My country, right or wrong".

To say "Yes We Can" is to admit that there is something that needs doing. It's "my country, because it will be right, if I have anything to say about it". It's "I Have A Dream"; but even more than that, it's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".

It's about "reaching across the aisle" - not just to pay lip service to the concept; not to score political points; but really to do it. Because united we stand, divided we fall.

It's about running on the issues. I've heard all kinds of nasty things going on in this campaign. There are those who will allege that Obama has been race-baiting; that he's spent huge amounts on negative campaign ads; that black voters are racist for supporting him overwhelmingly. To these allegations, I counter: black voters have historically voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate, and this is their first chance to vote for a (half-)black one - no one is talking about racism inherent in it taking this long for a black Presidential candidate to emerge. Some right-wingnuts have presented themselves as offended that they are branded racist merely for supporting McCain; this is an obvious straw-man. And while nearly every "questionable association" of Obama's could be matched with a counterpart in the McCain camp, the actual campaign chose to focus on the one skeleton in the McCain closet that was actually topical (i.e., the Keating Five scandal). Although left-wing blogs and pundits have done their part to expose much of the rest of the GOP's hypocrisy. (Note: Heartless and Brainless is nominally a bipartisan blog, but I'm linking one of the particularly Democratic-positive pieces.)

The campaign has been about Obama and Palin far more than about McCain or Biden. But it was made "about Obama" by the GOP and by right-wing media, and it was made about Palin largely by... Palin, and by all the media.

It could be argued that McCain didn't realize it would be seen as racist by some to refer to Obama as "that one" - or maybe it just slipped out. It could be argued that he didn't realize that responding to "he's an Arab" the way he did might be seen as implicitly accepting that something is wrong with simply being an Arab. These kinds of things happened, though, and some were race-baited by it.

But the point stands, that to be race-baited, you have to be race-baitable. It's amazing to me that the kind of racism I witnessed during the campaign lives on in the US. For previously doubting that things could be that bad, I owe an apology to some Americans I've met - some black American friends and acquaintances who told me their stories. I'm sorry.

As a counterpoint to that, I want to thank the good men and women of Pennsylvania who have turned out in large numbers and, last I checked, delivered the state for Obama by an even larger margin than the polls suggested. You have done your part to send the message that racism doesn't fly as a campaign tactic - not well enough to flip Democratic strongholds.

But there's a lot more work to do, still. I've heard pundits allege that the US has suddenly found itself politically to the left of Canada, where Stephen Harper has a near-majority. And of course there has been plenty of fear-mongering about Obama's "socialist" policies.

I don't buy any of it.

While it saddens me that Harper's Conservatives can attract 40% of the popular vote in Canada, it saddens me at least as much that the GOP in their current form can get even 25%. As long as they remain a major party, without reforming, there is work to be done. As long as right-wing supporters at political rallies can go on tape making death threats, or comparing the other candidate to a monkey, there is work to be done. As long as 23% of Texans can believe that Obama is Muslim - some while simultaneously talking about the church he belongs to being racist - there is work to be done. As long as more than a handful of people can support a woman like Palin, even to the point of apparently forgetting that it's actually McCain who ran for President, there is work to be done. As long as right wing pundits can seriously question the citizenship of a Presidential candidate who already made it the whole rest of the way, over several years, without issues, there is work to be done. As long as voices like those of Nader and McKinney go virtually unheard, there is work to be done. As long as Hannity et. al. can blast their right-wing hatred and eliminationist rhetoric over public airwaves, there is work to be done.

But you can do it, America. Yes You Can. You Can, and You Will. Starting today. I believe in you.