Yes (he) Can.

What could I possibly write in here that you haven't already thought or read today? Barak Obama is the president-elect of the United States of America. He is a young, inexperienced senator from Illonios who happens to be the son of a Kenyan, from a mixed-race marriage, raised in Hawaii by an unconventional mother-grandmother arrangement. And he's a democrat. I'm not sure which detail makes his victory most unlikely, though there will soon be a small section in your local bookstore devoted to "How Obama changed America for..." single parents/children of immigrants/ you get the idea.

Still, when all's said and done, it's a remarkable end to what was already an historic election process in several other ways. It was the longest election ever, with some of the most upsets (remember the primaries - Huckabee, Guliani, Hillary?), and some of the most money ever spent to bribe - er, pursuade - America to vote.

I don't know how the news went down in my native Oklahoma or adoptive TX, but I'm sure it wasn't anything like New York. Not because NY is bigger, hipper or whatever. For many of the

people I shared the evening with in Times Square, an Obama victory was much more emotional than any political event I've seen in America. Sure, people cheered, screamed, etc. But they also cried. And even the men and women, black and white, citizens and foreigners (it's times square, so assume a 20+ % foreign audience) who weren't outright balling, were stunned into silence between the fits of ebulient joy.

This election meant something. It mattered.

But come on folks, we didn't just cure cancer or end apartheid.

I'm torn. I don't want to take away something very special from this moment - a unified sense of purpose and, yes, Hope. At the same time, I'm not quite buying it. In fact, I was a little surprised by my own level of scepticism, at least in its disparity with those around me. I was down there in the thick of it - not because I'm a huge Obama or McCain supporter - but because I find the process fascinating. I'm emotionally invested in the social dynamics of voting, the gasps and moans of a dangerously misrepresentational electoral system, and the media circus that is 6+ hours of talking heads making huge assessements and wild statements they can't possibly back up in an effort to fill time between result reports.

And no, I don't think John McCain would have made a bad president. In fact, I think he'd be pretty damn good. I like Obama better - that's where my vote went - but let me add that I think John McCain can make a much bigger difference in the Senate than Obama could. So to each his own, my vote got me the best of both worlds, as I see it.

And kudos Texas, by the way. 47% democratic statewide is darn respectable.

So am I bashing on the Obama potential before it gets started? No! No no no no no no no. I just want to keep things in prespective. In my book, this country gets better - MARKEDLY BETTER - as soon as George W. Bush no longer has any authority to rule. He could hand his sceptre to Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin or the Easter Bunny, and I'd still rejoice for the moment. As for the moment after that, I give Obama good odds not to repeat the same mistakes as G-dub, to try and repair one or two of the dozens of things Bush has done to ruin this country, and maybe whoever replaces Obama in 4 or 8 years can finish the job and get us back to where we were in 1999. But I doubt it. Time doesn't go backwards, and longing for an idealized past when we

didn't have trillions of dollars in debt, a failing economy, an endless war and international hostility isn't going to bring it back.

We can only move forward, and while I'm not sure Obama has the super-human ability to accomplish all that with the bat of his eyelids and sweat of his brow, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and a little flexibility when he comes up shy, just as I would have done the same for McCain.

Because really, what choice is there but hope or bitterness?

Weber

:: (lame) Texpatriot