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Edited on Mon May-12-08 10:06 PM by VolcanoJen
A big "up" to prodn2000 for inspiring this post, within another thread.
Sometimes it's a good idea to just take a pause, to collect your thoughts. What a whirlwind of an election, it has dominated our year. January seems like just seconds ago to me, doesn't it to all of us, this collection of political junkies and yellow dogs and activists and bleeding hearts that we call "DU"? So I got to thinking, thanks to prodn2000, when he wrote in response to me "Visualize January 2009."
Remember, more than a few years ago, when so many of us started putting these simple numbers in our sig lines, wearing the buttons on our jackets, putting the stickers on our cars. It was a wink and a nod to each other, and it was always such a joy when the realization crossed some stranger's face, and they would just smile ear to ear in recognition.
1-20-09
We have so much more in common and very little that divides. The amazing part is that we had this campaign, and it was long, and it criss-crossed the nation and hit every region, and while we argued and bickered and hated, we also were, ever so slowly, learning about each other.
I learned about the difference between Democrats in New Jersey and Democrats in Wisconsin. I learned that Idaho can seem progressive while Pennsylvania seems more like the world I grew up in, and surrounded by. I learned about the most intricate details of the politics of South Carolina and the most hilarious minutia about the intricacies of the Texas Two-Step. I can now name every Democratic Governor in America. I can now bore a cocktail party to death, discussing in great depth the various congressional districts in Indiana. I learned there really are Democrats in Utah, and Wyoming, and that they are loud and proud and I want to be their friends and invite them to parties. I was inspired by the events that Iowa catapulted into motion, and that New Hampshire clamped down on, but with great reason, before I had even caught my breath. "Not so fast," they told me. And they were right. And I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who ever wagged a finger in my face and told me to slow down. I wouldn't have been taught a thing, had they not.
I learned more about America and my countrymen and countrywomen in the last five months than I have learned in the whole of my life.
For that I am thankful, and I hope we can all see that, when the tears dry, when the smoke clears, what really matters is that this was the most amazing election, and exceeded anything any of us (admit it!) could have ever imagined. We fielded the first viable female and the first viable African-American candidates ever, and once again, we have made history. We shook the tree. Together.
Take a deep breath, if you can find the resolve.
1-20-09
:hug: My Fellow DUers, My Community :hug:
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