I still can't quite let myself believe that Barack Obama won. Isn't this the part where they pull some recount monkey business out of their hat? But McCain conceded! He wouldn't do that if he was planning to steal the race, would he?
Well, my theory is that I'm in a coma and I'm dreaming all this. So, while I'm in this coma, I guess it doesn't hurt too much to offer my own little concession.
By the way, thank you, black Americans! You saved our cracker asses. We didn't deserve that.
My concession is that I have been too cynical before. I had given up on my country. I had seen too many former friends in the past eight years turn to enemies because they suddenly came out Red (as in Red State) and I would not be a party to their terror-mongering. I had seen too much civilization rot back to savagery. I had seen too much racism. I had seen too much enlightenment torn down by too much ignorance.
I figured the USA was never going to wise up. And that does happen to countries all the time. Countries rise, spread to an empire, and collapse, fading away. But it wasn't the United States' turn this time. We have at least two good years left in us.
Mind you, this is only the beginning. Do you have any idea how much mopping up we have to do? The Patriot Act, the Iraq War, the housing market crash, the recession, the erosion of personal liberties, the scary-big-number deficit. Somebody's going to have to answer for this, this, and this. All of that has to be undone, just to climb back up to where we were eight years ago.
Liberal rule is very good for Open Source, very good for Free Software, and very good for Technology Freedom. And I'll tell you why: Because all of these things crumble under fascism and thrive under liberty. Because science thrives under liberalism. With it comes education, and from that follows technology. And at the end of that road, there is the possibility of a civilization that looks upon learning with reverence again instead of scorn.
So I'm going to resolve to tone down the cynicism just a bit.
P. Pres. President Ooooooo.... President Oooooo....
No, I can't quite say it yet. Better to just flow with the coma for now.
Oooooooommmmmmmm....
Update: For further view on why Obama and technology are a good mix, see this Wired post.
...and this blog cheers the election of "an openly smart candidate". Which I think is a damn fine choice of words. Yes, smart people can come out of the closet, now! And boy, was it stuffy in there!
...and - I don't know how the heck I missed this! I was watching CNN on election night. I must have taken a fridge break during this crucial moment. So thanks to the blog at OSI for pointing out this clip, where a direct comparison is made between Obama and open source! He even referred to ESR's book, which probably pissed off ESR no end, since he's been kidnapped these past ten years by kinky aliens who replaced him with a right-wing neocon.
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I really hope I end up eating my words and Obama really shakes things up over the next 4 years, although it seems unlikely. After all, he likely has more in common as a politician with his predecessors and others selling out their countrymen for "campaign contributions", than as an African-American with your average minority.
It'll be somewhat depressing to see the cynicism form for the Obama-crazed Americans of today as they are left disenfranchised if his actions prove his promises to be rhetoric.