Sharings by Daniel

This election was no different… standing at the poll with two imperfect (to put it politely) choices.  Sad to say, it was Palin vs. Biden that was more on my mind; but after having weighed the issues, and having read an unprecedented amount of available “facts” and views online, I made my choice and voted.  I was a waverer - there was a night, after hearing Obama speak, when I thought the decision was made; and then as rhetoric faded, I weighed the issues again.  Somehow the three or four issues I recall voting on last election were now a dozen.  How can you drop environment issues from the list just because of the current domestic issues?  No, all these choices pulled my vote back and forth like some 70’s red and blue mood ring.

And then it happened - the election was over - my precinct’s results weren’t even official before CNN’s 3D hallucinations crowned the winner with their calculators on their jumbo-tron as they finger-painted the states blue and red like the country was some crayola plaything.  And the elation began.  A new hope seemed to be born - and people were coming together - at least from the perspective of my small blog-encrusted world.  And then I went to work, and found angry whispers around the coffee pot venting secret bigotry and smallness of mind.  My hope that somehow the country would rally was short lived.

But despite my own personal new-year’s prediction that the initial excitement of a regime change would fade faster than the cynacism left from the political weapons of mass destruction that were eventually found in the White House over the last 8 years and unleashed on the populace, there is no denying the turn-out for the inauguration spells a flare up of that hopeful ember.  And, although more with sighs than hopeful breaths, I too am fanning that flame we will all need to survive the next 4 years.

It is refreshing that Obama is an intelligent and well-spoken man.  It is endearing to hear respect for history and follow his emulation of Lincoln’s best qualities.  And it is amazing to see that he is not afraid to “cross the aisle” and engage viewpoints beyond his own.  And we love him for it.  I know that 53% of us risk making Obama into something he is not, but in our enthusiasm, we need to realize that its our job to empower him to carry us forward.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.  We have to rebuild our sense of community and help each other and make sacrifices to give the President’s policies a chance.  The more we reach out in ways that are unlegislated, the less work he will have to do.  We need to take the initiative; and indulge a little less in griping when his dream is not our own.

In the end, we the people elected him, whether I or you voted for him or not.  He is our President today.  He’s a brave man for stepping up, and I believe, he is sincere in his desire to be a public servant.  Like the new opportunities that open with each New Year, Obama gives us another chance to make more of our time together during our brief lives.  He is our Obama, but let us not mean by “our” that we will, like a million Lilliputians, tie him down with our personal agendas, but rather step up to help our neighbors and take action when there is need, defer the cynical instinct to enjoy his failures, and begin, like him, to consider what work we have ahead of us in the next 4 years.