On Apologies and Our American Duty

November 5, 2008

Filed in: America, News & Politics
Tagged as: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, humility, patriotism, presidential election, regret, unity, yes we can
Comments: 5

Yes we can. In the wake of election night, I find myself a mixture of joyous and somber — two feelings that admittedly don’t “go together.” And I feel the first thing I should address is my somber emotion. I am somber because I am sorry. Sorry for how rash I was the day after Bush Jr’s re-election four years ago. I realize now, I like to think mostly because of my age, that insulting a president-elect in the days immediately following an election does not insult the man so much as it insults his supporters, and, more importantly — your fellow citizens. I am sorry for doing my part in that terribly immature practice four years ago, and I just hope that we are better than that today.

I just finished watching Obama’s victory speech last night. And I realized that he is the most authentic candidate I have ever seen, and granted, I have not seen many. When he speaks, his humility is clear, and most refreshing (and touching) of all, so is his passion and dedication for us — the American people, and not just those that supported him through this election.

We won because we are tired of politics of usual — we are tired of politicians who say they want to work for us and then fail to do so. We are tired of politicians who say they care about us, and then continue to prove the fact that they have no idea what we deal with on a daily basis.

If you don’t like Obama, that’s fine and I can honestly respect that. But now is the time to unite and remember that we are, first and foremost, Americans. I beg you — be a more mature American than I was four years ago. I say this with complete humility and total regret. Maybe the last four years would have been different if we all could have had that attitude. For the next few months, let’s try to understand each other and find compromise — not just conservatives, but liberals too. If, on January 21, Obama’s enacted policies are disappointing to you, then by all means — let the criticism begin. But until then, our job, our patriotic duty, in fact — is to learn how to understand each other and above all, respect each other. It is of the utmost importance.

Yes we can.

November 4, 2008 -- On Participating in my First Presidential Election (0)
November 7, 2008 -- On Citizen Responsibility (1)
May 8, 2008 -- Why Hillary shouldn’t drop out. (0)
April 29, 2008 -- The future’s not ours to see (1)
April 22, 2008 -- For every single breath that I take (0)

5 Responses to “On Apologies and Our American Duty”

» On Apologies and Our American Duty Barrack Obama On Best Political Blogs: News And Info On Barrack Obama Says:

November 5th, 2008 at 13:02
[...] On Apologies and Our American Duty Yes we can. In the wake of election night, I find myself a mixture of joyous and somber — two feelings that admittedly don’t “go together.” And I feel the first thing I should address is my somber emotion. I am somber because I am sorry. Sorry for how rash I was the day after Bush Jr’s re-election four years ago. I realize now, I like to think mostly because of my age, that insulting a president-elect in the days immediately following an election does not insult the man so much as it insults hi [...]
Stephanie Says:

November 5th, 2008 at 20:53
I think this is a truly important thing to realize. The election shouldn’t be as decisive as it is, and ALL Americans should be celebrating. We should be open to each other, not shutting each other out. And I love that you end with respecting each other. YES.
Elyse Says:

November 5th, 2008 at 22:52
Definitely. Tonight I went to college group (and I’ll probably end up writing a full-fledged entry on this) and we just talked about issues that matter to us. We spoke logically and without use of emotion, we worked to really understand each other and meet each other where we’re at — from a perspective of wanting to define some problems and find some possible solutions. And it was inspiring. Change is possible, but it has to start with us.
Lelia Katherine Thomas Says:

November 6th, 2008 at 13:02
Between McCain and Obama, I preferred Obama for social and international reasons; neither has what I personally consider a desirable or reasonable economic plan. I voted for neither. (To be precise, on my ballot I voted for someone in a third party for the presidential election; two Republicans and a Democrat for other positions.)

What I find interesting is all the talk of “restored hope” and “faith” in the American political system. Now, not to discredit anyone who truly wants to vote Republican or Democrat for the federal level of government, but Obama is quite likely more a symbolic source of change, rather than a realistic one. He, like all other politicians, has made more promises than he will ever keep and has fudged around with the facts more often than he should have. Whether he has more integrity than some of the other politicians in Washington remains to be seen, but even if he does…we have just voted in a full Democratic body. As a people we have essentially said “fuck you” to check and balances, yet again, this time in the Democrats’ favor.

Again, if people want to vote this way, that is truly their choice and their right. However, to say this election presents real change is to ignore the many amazing and truly subversive figures that have not gotten the limelight, as Obama and McCain did, as Bush, Gore, Kerry, Clinton and others have had in the past.

Washington is corrupt, and it’s not going to change from that, simply because people from the other extreme of the political spectrum are now in office, or if a good president is in office (he is, for the most part, a figurehead–not that that isn’t important, but it is not all that people make it out to be, including Obama). The Democrats in office will just present a different form of corruption, more likely than not.

I don’t mean any of this in a doomsday sort of way, mind you. However, we haven’t liked the way the country has been going, overall, for a very, very long time. The Democrats and Republicans have tossed the presidential and oftentimes other positions back and forth for over a hundred years. Real change would be for that to stop or at least be checked somewhat.

We should definitely respect each other. The politicians in Washington, who do not know our names or anything about us (unless, as Obama, they care to learn, for the sake of making a speech sound nice and personal and authentic), are not the ones who take care of us ultimately. That is left up to us and our fellow citizens. We must remember that it was not a strong, centralized government that made us into an amazing country. It was many citizens acting often for their individual good, innovation and their communities that did that.

Obama is very eloquent, but then, so too are many tyrants. I am interested to see what plans of his are implemented. Some I am very fond of (immigration reform, for instance), while others I am not (mostly economic).
Elyse Says:

November 7th, 2008 at 11:00
Lelia, thanks for stopping by and commenting :)

I agree with a majority of what you have to say — in the end, Obama will not live up to the expectations he has set, he would truly be incredible if he could, but I highly doubt that outcome. And I don’t think that having a Democratic majority in Washington will save things either, and I guarantee that come 2010, Republicans will regain their edge in the Legislative branch.

The most important thing, and what I agree with most from your comment is this:

We should definitely respect each other. The politicians in Washington, who do not know our names or anything about us (unless, as Obama, they care to learn, for the sake of making a speech sound nice and personal and authentic), are not the ones who take care of us ultimately. That is left up to us and our fellow citizens. We must remember that it was not a strong, centralized government that made us into an amazing country. It was many citizens acting often for their individual good, innovation and their communities that did that.

And oddly enough, that’s what me, four other college aged citizens and a 29 year old talked about. That change, whatever change may be, is up to us. That we have to sit down and talk about what we need and what we want and how to make it happen — whether it’s through our churches or other religious bodies, our communities, our towns, our districts, our states or even through our government — but we must remember that a functioning government is for and by the people. Literally.

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