oh happy day

My dear friend Emily thought I went a little off the rails with my last post. Fair enough and she has a pretty wide perspective in this area having grown up under martial law in the Philippines and living in the States since her teens. But really, who could possibly trust this administration after the horrors of the last 8 years? Thankfully, few did. My concern lessened as each major broadcaster posted 800 numbers for voters to call if they faced problems at the polls. The feigned outrage over ACORN voter fraud turned into real outrage over the nefarious acts committed by the Republican Party during the last two presidential elections which gave us, in my opinion, an illegitimate government for the last two terms.

Alas, that is the past. (At least until the next election.) It's been four weeks since Election Day - one for which I came home and campaigned, because how could I not? I have yet to read an account of the momentous day with dry eyes. Jubilation doesn't quite fit my mood. It is more a sense of profound relief and gratitude that our long, national nightmare will finally end.

Relief has turned to a cautious optimism. Can we really restore our constitution? Our rights to privacy, freedom of speech, and due process for all whom we detain? Can we seek a multi-sectoral approach to simultaneously solve our energy, economic, and environmental crises? Can we really be released from the death grip of the Religious Right and lift the ban on stem cell research to give hope back to millions suffering from potentially curable diseases? And lift the Global Gag Rule that prevents non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from even talking about abortion if they receive US funds even if the funds are not used for abortion services but rather for pre-natal care, contraception or medication to prevent mother-to-child AIDS transmission? Can we really hope that the tools for national security include the proactive deployment of diplomacy and aid and that these are not simply incorporated as an afterthought to "win the hearts and minds" of the citizens of countries we have ravaged with our military might or used to force the "values" of a vocal American minority on the desperately needy? Can we restore our standing in the world and once more serve as a beacon of hope and an example of a democracy that not only values human life by forbidding torture, but fully comprehends that torture actually makes everything worse?

Yes, we can.

This President-Elect has stunned me with his foresight at every turn. (And by stunned I wish not to imply that I could not expect this of him, rather that I have come to expect so little of my president over the last eight years and even to grudgingly accept so much acquiescence from the elected officials I have supported in light of the unyielding Conservative grip on our Congress.) The campaign was not only masterful in its success at winning, but in its ability to allow us to cast a new eye on our nation's political map. President Johnson declared the South lost to a generation of Democrats when he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Well, that generation is finally, mercifully over. The Republican Party and its red state versus blue state divisiveness are in retreat. There is, and yet was, little room for meaningful debate, compromise and problem-solving in such a discordant environment. President-elect Obama has set the ground for a new era of political discourse perhaps without knowing just how critical it would become. For how can we solve the daunting challenges of the moment if we are divided?

It is heartbreaking that the prior toxic approach kept us from preventing or mitigating so many of the security and economic blunders of the last eight years that have led to the current meta-crisis, but to imagine a President McCain, architect of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which wrested habeas corpus from our constitutional guarantees, with best chum and rabid deregulator, Lindsey Graham, and foe-to-both-planet-and-animals Palin at the helm! #@+*§!

This is going to take some getting used to. We won. Have to keep reminding myself of this.

In addition to turning our great nation a lovely shade of purple, the Obama campaign also established a meaningful dialogue with its supporters, which the President-elect now seeks to expand to all Americans. Just go to http://www.change.gov/. I have already submitted my thoughts on environmental and healthcare policy and am gearing up for when they ask about foreign policy. The transition sub-teams also put out (admittedly light-on-substance) videos about their policy areas (but, hey, they're trying) and the President-Elect's weekly addresses can be found on youtube and iTunes. Can you even imagine President Bush asking for email advice on global warming? I mean even in a surreal, dream-like sequence?

Indeed it is a new reality. And a new happy day.