Yes. We Can.

It is a beautiful new day in these United States. My head hurts a little from the champagne I enjoyed last night but what a beautiful day! The sun seems brighter somehow.

When the first television station called the election and posted the chyron "President-Elect Barack Obama" my friends went nuts! Not me though. I'd been through this before. President-Elect Al Gore, an election stolen and snatched from our hands at the very last second. I was afraid of it happening again. It wasn't until John McCain gave his very moving concession speech, the most class he's shown the whole election, that I began to cry. I think it's unlikely that one speech can undo all the emotional harm and division of his entire campaign and eight years of Rovian politics but it was a step and I am grateful. My own senator, Elizabth Dole, made famous by her terrible, terrible "Godless" ad about Key Hagen, was not nearly as gracious. She spewed hate and accusations to the very end. It was shameful. Still, for the first time in my adult life, my vote for president counted. We have this crazy system here called the Electoral College, something started in the days of the pony express, where we don't count each vote, the Popular vote (which Gore won in 2000 and Kerry probably won in 2004, the voter fraud cases are still going to court as recently as yesterday) but where each state gets a number of votes and if one candidate wins the state, all the state's votes go to that candidate. Not since Jimmy Carter (who is still, in my opinion, one of the most decent people who has ever served us a president. He still serves all around the world, unlike these others who leave office and never help anyone ever again) has my state voted for a democrat. It feels good to finally have my vote count. Wow.

I know a lot of people are feeling empowered today. A lot of disenfranchised black voters. A lot of black kids. A lot of people who are biracial finally see a representation of themselve in no less than the highest office in the land. A lot of us big hearted people who do love our families and don't just preach about values are actually seeing someone with our values using them to love on a larger scale. A lot of people who appreciate the value of non-violent communication, got to see it in action in a campaign that won. Finally. Our country is bubbling with hope.

Now I won't lie. A lot of hurtles lie ahead. A lot of fearful and angry people have their feelings hurt and fear and anger and hurt feelings are a dangerous combination. We've got our work cut out healing that. Also, major corporations are now all woven through our government and our media (which is one of the ways they manipulated public opinion and the use of public resources for so long). That is going to be a bear to untangle. But I am hopeful. I am hopeful.

I want to feel proud of my country again. I know so many good people, people doing good work here and all over the world. I worked beside them at the shelter for Katrina victims when New Orleans was destroyed by that hurricane. Our govenment did nothing but the people came together and did what we could despite them. I worked with them to build libraries in Jamaica and build shelters for homeless dogs and treat injured wild animals -- so I know our love does not stop at our borders or our species. I sat beside them and answered calls at the AIDS hotline so I know that our love does not stop because of someone's disease status or sexual orientation or the color of their skin. I see people helping. My eyes show me what my television does not. And while there are misguided and ignorant people too, they are not the totality of what our country is. Not even close. And it's a bright day when I can actually see that when I look to the highest office in our land.

My feelings are all over the place right now. It's been a long dark time here. It's been eight years of suffering and shame, of helplessnes and despair. It's been eight years of watching our government start an illegal and unjust war, of watching the infrastructure fall apart, of watching the economy fail, of watching our standing with our international neighbors go down the toilet, of watching ignorance revered and "Joe Six Pack" becoming a hero and having religion shoved down our throats when our very country was formed based on freedom of religion! It's been eight years of watching our media become a propaganda tool (Karl Rove, more than anyone else, put the tool in propaganda tool). It's been eight long years. I'm almost afraid to exhale. I'm almost afraid of the next dirty trick.

I have something to confess. I went to the Free Republic website the night before the election. Freepers, the people who post there, protested us at a peace march once, protested peace, that's how I know who they are. They are the ultra right wing nut cases who put Bush in office. At the peace march, they yelled at us to "Swim Back To Cuba you Commies!" and crazy stuff like that. So I went to their website to see if they thought McCain was going to win. What I saw there were posts about buying guns and stocking up on bullets. Hundreds of posts like this. It was so scary. So I know ... I know ... I know we are not out of the dark ages yet.

Still, even as I type this, I must also be grateful to these people, to the George Bush's and Karl Rove's and Dicks Cheney (and all the other dicks too, of course). They have shown us what we are capable of. They have exposed our seedy underbelly. They have given us something to rise above. They have provided a powerful catalyst for conscious evolution.

Our democracy is very young. I often think of us as an adolescent boy filled with testosterone and no adult supervision. I don't know when we became a bully but this is our chance to grow out of it. To grow up. That's what the last eight years have given us. And though it has been a painful growing experience, I hope we've learned something. I hope. I Hope!

So I am pleased. Even as I bubble back and forth, even as my head bubbles from the bubbly. I am happy, happy, so happy. It is a new day. And freedom is within sight. Bush doesn't leave office til Jan 20th and he's going to be up to a lot of mischief between now and then. He'll probably pardon a lot of criminals. He's already creating legislation to pardon himself! So there's work to do. But we can do it.

Yes. We. Can.

With love and joy,
Caroleeeena

After starting election day at 5:00 AM, I was just a little tired by the time I got off work today. Took a long nap on the couch.

Yes we did.