photo by 油姬 via Flickr

Cross-posted at Radio Open Source

I am slightly less ashamed at being an American now. When I go abroad, I will drop my poor version of the Canadians' "eh." This election has been great for me because it was aBOUT (no longer aBOOT) sanity and awareness returning to the American people.

My mother, and many other black mothers, always told me that I had to work twice as hard to get as far as a white person in this country. It was an astoundingly simple yet often accurate lesson. Yesterday's elections show that Rebublicans must fail twice as hard in order to fall as far as the Democratic party.

A little bit of my faith has been restored.

Deval Patrick. I cannot express my excitement over this man's campaign. I was involved from the very beginning. In addition to personal pride in someone I believed in, I still can't believe that an outsider, in almost every since of the political word, has triumphed in this state, known for its boy's club allocation of political capital.

It's not just that Deval won (which makes his billboards' blocking all light in my apartment for the past 3 - 4 months worthwhile), it's the fact that he triumphed so completely (20+ points) over an opponent who got about as dirty as you can. It's the fact that at every step the "pundits" said he would not and could not succeed. It's the fact that his campaign actually involved more people than any in the state's history. It was more than advertising. It was more than speechifying. It was an actual movement. Even opponents of his should be impressed.

Back to the national scene.

I say my faith has been restored this morning because the words "opposition party" may now actually mean something. Five years ago, America overdosed on "patriotism," and while some of us detoxed quickly and saw the truth of what was happening, the majority was scared into trading liberty for so-called "security," and it has been a horrible, horrible exchange rate.

No-bid contracts for highly inefficient war profiteers, falsification of intelligence reports, unconstitutional domestic surveillance, advocacy for torture, vilification of homosexuals, politicization of stem cell research, denial of global warming, unprecedented levels of corruption, provocation of potential nuclear powers Iran and N. Korea, blind concession to oil addiction, intimidation of voters, rigging of elections, closeted gay behaviors among the most righteous, attacks on immigrants, support for corporate malfeasance, idiotic and irrational "homeland security" measures and a failure to investigate any of these things. All this was done in the name of "9/11."

It has taken a long time, too long for my taste, for this nation to awaken, but it's finally morning in America.

(please let me know how you feel about the election results in the comment section)