I remember standing along Pennsylvania Avenue eight long years ago. It was sleeting. I was cold, wet, and hungry. I was 16 years old. My father and I had been steadfastly guarding our lonely curb-side spot along the security line for hours. Suddenly, someone pointed out a black backpack lying on the street. Police ordered everyone to back away, but no one wanted to loose their spot. A crew came and investigated the bag and found it to be empty. Somebody's lunch, maybe, but nothing more. As time wore on and the sleet got worse someone had the bright idea of opening umbrellas and having everyone try and squeeze into small units so as to share the benefit of a canopy. This kinda worked. And then, all at once, it happened: a black limousine rolled gently past to the screams and camera flashes of thousands. In the back window I caught a glimpse of President George W. Bush's profile. My father said he saw Laura's profile, too. Then, just as quickly, the moment passed and we were all left standing there...cold, wet, and hungry.
Today I sat in my room and watched live on Foxnews.com as President-elect Obama was sworn in as President Obama. I was warm, dry, and satiated from breakfast. There was no screaming, no black bags, and no valiant-yet-hopeless attempts at sharing umbrellas. Just me, my computer, and the electronic transmission of thousands of voices cheering the swearing-in of a man commited to change. We'll see how things are four, maybe eight years from now. Until then, remember one thing, America. Eight years ago, millions of people cheered the election of a man who would, for the next five years, hold the highest approval ratings in memory. And then things changed. Not all change, it seems, is good.
Comments (1)
Your father well remembers that day, too. You had no gloves for some reason; he shared his with you. It was a magic moment of history that you and he shared... and remembered together as you watched it live there, and he watched it live many time zones away in Baghdad. There was no cheering where you were; there was NO cheering among the many Soldiers that sat with you father, either. NONE. NOT ONE Soldier- you know, those selfless and mature, thinking adults of high moral character that liberals and democrats so hate? Not one Soldier cheered as we watched. It was only stony silence and a sense of watching a national disaster take shape. We were watching the highest office in the land pass to a man of little to no actual experience managing anything, a man willing to ditch close friends and personal spiritual leaders of decades for current political expediency, a man of demonstrated little personal wisdom and judgement, a man who on national television in the self-same interview has claimed to be both a Christian and a moslem- which if he knew anything of the substance and Spirit of either would know is impossible, a man of extremely questionable Constitutional eligibility, even... but he is of half African blood and he speaks well, so tens of millions of Americans voted for him and his vacuous but beguiling 'Change'- and called the rest of us (that require more than that for our votes to lead not just the US but the 'Free Word'), 'racists'. What breathtaking hypocrisy, what enormous foolishness... How extraordinarily shallow, his voters... Stand by, America, my beloved America- as with Carter and the Clintons you have again chosen terribly unwisely- and you will suffer terrible consequences.