My husband BB and I sat glued to the TV last night, flipping between CNN, PBS and Comedy Central's "Indecision 2008". We got one call from BB's dad at the 8:00 hour, right when CNN called California, Oregon and Washington for Obama and made it Official. My father in-law is a WWII vet and retired schoolteacher. He and his wife are absolutely thrilled to see an end to the Bush years.
Got another call from Anthony on the East Coast, whose internet connection had failed and who needed to hear if he had bragging rights this fine day. He did. We all do.
Now: too early to be funny? Naaah.
Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress
WASHINGTON—After emerging victorious from one of the most pivotal elections in history, president-elect Barack Obama will assume the role of commander in chief on Jan. 20, shattering a racial barrier the United States is, at long last, shitty enough to overcome.
Best part:
"Obama had the foresight to run for president at a time when being an African-American was not as important to Americans as, say, the ability to clothe and feed their children," Pung continued. "An election like this only comes once, maybe twice, in a lifetime."
As we enter a new era of equality for all people, the election of Barack Obama will decidedly be a milestone in U.S. history, undeniable proof that Americans, when pushed to the very brink, are willing to look past outward appearances and judge a person by the quality of his character and strength of his record. So as long as that person is not a woman.
As a kid in the 60s (dude!) I remember that one of the persistent tropes (lit devices) of leftist comedians and satirists was imagining (in "the future") the utter improbability of America's first black president: generally they all revolved around visions of seriously afro topped funky brothers occupying a White House filled with blaring soul music and pop culture hipness tokens (strangely, in retrospect, these faux-cool visions seem to be weird counter-reflections of the kind of paranoid racist fantasies encountered in post-Reconstruction Dixie visions of black-dominated politics--but oh well, it was probably meant to be "with it").
OK, "The future" has arrived and it looks nothing like the 60s ever concieved of. But it did arrive. In our lifetime. Worth taking a minute and contemplating. And celebrating.
And just for fun, here's a post-Obama party game for us all: take a moment and speculate exactly what George Wallace, Lester Maddox and Jefferson Davis are all doing right now in the afterlife! (Hint: it involves rotating hypersonically!)
Posted by: Anthony | November 05, 2008 at 01:24 PM