Post-Election 2008: Some thoughts

I have not posted since the election. Up until that point, it seemed like one every 2-3 days (probably just seemed like it though). It's not easy putting this together. One of the reasons I'm doing this is so that I can become more practiced at expressing myself coherently and concisely. (I can already express myself, but it's usually just a long string of grunts and other sounds...neither coherent nor concise.)

I felt like I put a good amount of effort into my last several posts. As D-Day grew nearer, I found that my passions became more clear and the need to get them down was more compulsive. Alas, it didn't go my way. But I will press on...Unless President Obama surprises the hell out of me and ends up being the polar opposite of who I think he is, I will continue to fight the good fight and defend my country and her constitution in the way that I best know how.

But that is for later. First, some thoughts on the election:

(1) America elected a black man as president for the first time in its history. This cannot be minimized; this is a truly monumental occasion, and should be celebrated. I was not even born when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing and MLK Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech or wrote his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," both of which I have read numerous times. But that was still only about 40 odd years ago. Blacks went from simply winning the right to vote to seating an American president in two short generations. Amazing.

(2) As amazing as it is, though, now that Obama is in office, the media should abandon its love affair with him and get on about treating him like any other president. Signs of that happening are scant, though. Chris Matthews of "Hardball" declared that he views it as his job to "do everything I can to make this [presidency] work...to make it succeed." Yes, the same Chris Matthews who "felt this thrill going up [his] leg" when Obama spoke.

Also you can read of MSNBC is producing a commemorative DVD called "Yes We Can! The Barack Obama Story." And, not to be outsold, ABC news is hawking their own "America Speaks: The Historic 2008 Election" book and DVD set, with Barack Obama livin' large on the cover.

(3) The rest of America should abandon their love affair with Obama, or at least suspend it until the guy actually takes office and does something! I mean, for the love of Pete, look at what is going on out there, a full 2 months before Inauguration Day:

• In Long Island, NY, a student-led movement has succeeded in renaming Ludlum Elementary to Barack Obama Elementary.
• Washington D.C.'s subway system is producing Barack Obama rider passes for the thousands of thousands expected to be on hand for Inauguration Day.
• And Obama himself has just approved the plans for his own Presidential Library, for which they will be breaking ground late next year.

OK, so that last one was made up (I think, maybe I should check?) but get real people. If you can't even entertain the possibility that Obama could be a wild screw up, and look at him with a modicum of critical thinking, then we really are doomed.

(4) For whatever reason, those who voted for Obama feel the need to implore everyone else who didn't vote for Obama to now come together in unified support for our 44th president. Unified support? I guess like the unified support that they gave our 43rd president? Yeah right. Kumbaya.

(5) As I said in the beginning, I will wait and see what my president does. As someone who believes in the genius and strength of our minimalist Constitution, reserving true power for the people in order to keep the elected (and temporary) powers in check, it troubles me when Obama calls the Constitution "lacking" or suggests that it needs to change in order to meet the needs of our modern society. I will give him a chance, and I hope that I am surprised. But if he goes after my basic rights as an American, I will speak out against him, just as his supporters spoke out against Bush when he tried to weaken that document. Hopefully, I can move one or two of you to my side as well.