Things I'm Thinking On November 9, 2008

Been working my ass off lately and this is the first weekend I've had to myself in awhile, so it's time to catch up on a few post-election thoughts.

1. We have a black President-elect. Days later, I'm still dumbfounded. Part of it is shock that in four years, American voters have gone from re-electing a man like George Bush to electing a man like Barack Obama. It's positively schizophrenic. The other part of it is, I can't believe we're actually going to have our first black President. Say that a few times. The last black candidate to be remotely viable (and he wasn't really viable) was Jesse Jackson. That was in 1988. A few days ago we saw him crying tears of joy during Obama's victory speech. The irony is that a few months ago, JJ was criticizing Obama for talking down to African-Americans. What a difference victory makes.

I don't want to get all Revelations here, but it almost seemed like this election was preordained, like events were conspiring to propel him into power. Every time McCain seemed to be making headway, something would get in the way. There was the hurricane during the Republican Convention, which reminded everyone of the fuckups during Hurricane Katrina. Then the Palin pick, which at first seemed so genius -- she was practically deified at the RNC -- in time, proved to be disastrous. Then the economic freefall that McCain reacted to like a human pinball, demonstrating his knee-jerk approach. It's amazing how much went wrong for them.

That said, Obama is a phenomenon, no two ways about it. They're making t-shirts with his face on them, and already he's become a cultural icon like Che Guevara, JFK, Malcolm X, and MLK. And he did it largely because he excels at that lost art of public speaking. He inspires people with his voice and words. In this country, we've forgotten what it's like to be moved by a political leader. Who was the last President to inspire people? Reagan? JFK? We had MLK and RFK as well, people who moved others through their words, deeds, and what they stood for. Obama's doing it again. Which brings me to my next point.

2. Obama's Cult of Personality Never have I seen national, nay, GLOBAL adulation at the result of a Presidential election. Kids all over the world -- Indonesia, Kenya, Detroit -- holding up pictures of Obama, a spontaneous street party in front of the White House, tears of joy, spontaneous relief. A great deal of it had to do with the historical significance of Obama's victory and a huuuuuge exhale that the Bush Administration, with its advocacy of torture, domestic eavesdropping, warmongering, and go-it-alone foreign policy, is on its way out. Rationality and diplomacy are making a comeback.

But... the elephant in the room, the thing that few people are talking about (yet), is that Obama is a blank slate on which everyone is unrealistically painting their unique hopes and dreams. Everyone thinks he's a savior, that he's going to solve everyone's problems like a Magic Man, a Fixer, a Messiah. Many will be sorely disappointed. At the end of the day, he's just a man, a smart, competent, intellectually curious man, but just a man who is inheriting a colossal mess. He's going to face the same kinds of hurdles and challenges that every previous administration has faced, and if people are expecting miracles or a wave of quick-fixes, they're living in a dream world. The best we can hope for is a reasoned, careful consideration of our problems and an intelligent approach to solving them. For all his inspiration, Obama is not a miracle worker. Not everyone is going to like what he does. There is major potential for a letdown in some circles. I can already hear the criticism coming that he didn't fulfill his promises and compromised too much. Personally, I'm hoping he accomplishes a few of his domestic goals and changes the way the world sees us. For me, that will be huge progress.

3. Writing fiction is harder than anything I've ever done. I don't even know why I bother. I shut myself in my apartment or a cafe and bang my head all day to get a paragraph out and then I read a flawless short story by T.C. Boyle or Raymond Carver or Hannah Tinti, and I want to slit my wrists.

4. I saw my first Christmas commercial three days ago. Why don't they just start pulling them out on the Fourth of July? They're not even waiting for Thanksgiving anymore. Ridiculous.

5. I made the mistake of drinking coffee at 7 pm last night and ended up watching the Justin Timberlake movie Alpha Dog until almost four in the morning. Don't ask.

6. A few more words on the election: Funny how all that nonsense about Bill Ayers and socialism and Reverend Wright went out the window after Obama won. Nary a mention of it in McCain's consolation speech (which was excellent, in my view). Kudos to the American people for not believing that horseshit this time around. Political campaigns are sales jobs, nothing more, nothing less.

Hey Rudy 9/11: The Commmmunity Orrrrrganizer won!!! Now fuck you.

Last but not least, can we leave Sarah Palin alone now? Jesus. The election's over. They both lost. And it wasn't all her fault. So why doesn't everyone get off her back? She can't be blamed for McCain's bad judgment in picking someone with no national experience that he only met twice. I don't blame her for being tantalized by power and reaching beyond her capabilities. I blame McCain's group for not figuring out all the problems ahead of time. (Really, how hard was it? Katie Couric figured it out in a 60 minute interview.) Now they're trying to make her the fall lady here, and I don't think it's fair. Shit, I think I'm starting to feel sorry for her. So please. Stop.

7. Guns, guns, guns! Is it funny or scary to hear stories of people stockpiling firearms the day after Obama won? I'm going with scary. Have you ever seen a more paranoid group of people than gun owners? Will you people please fucking relax? No one is going to take your guns away. This country will be and remain the violent and gun-obsessed Wild West that it's always been, so don't worry your precious, gun-toting hearts about it. You may not have Charlton Heston to press your case no mo', but the Second Amendment isn't going anywhere, so you'll still be able to shoot squirrels, Campbell soup cans, deer, moose, crocodiles, beer bottles, Stop signs, skeet, ducks, geese, loons, and, on occasion, human beings, whenever you like. Don't be afraid, Obama won't hurt you. He's got bigger fish to fry. But you may want to start supporting that health care plan of his because as popular as guns have become in the good ol' U.S. of A., you, or some high school or college student you love, may need affordable health care one day.

8. True Blood. I read three of the Anne Rice books and loved the movie The Lost Boys, but I've always found the notion of vampires a little hokey. I keep thinking of how silly Gary Oldman looked and sounded in Dracula. That said, the new HBO show True Blood is pretty damn good. Soap opera good. Lots of interesting characters, conflict, and cliffhangers. I've even started preempting Dexter to watch it. Choices, choices.

9. Could I date someone who didn't like television? Nope. Do I watch too much television? Yup.

10. Little kids have been staring at me a lot lately. Not in a scared or mean way, but in a curious, friendly way. I'm talking toddlers. The other day a lady was getting out of an elevator in a building I was in and she pushed a stroller by me that bore a cute little boy -- I think it was a boy -- with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She was halfway down the hallway and I happened to look at him before I got in the elevator and I saw the kid looking back and smiling at me. So I waved. It happened again on the subway the other day, and then again tonight in the elevator up to my apartment. They look at me like I'm some kind of friendly alien or something. Like I'm a Teletubby with facial hair. I guess it's better to be noticed than ignored, eh?