After Ohio went blue, I knew it was over, but I still tried to stay up to see what Florida would do. But, I fell asleep around 10:30 eastern time. It wasn't until Lily woke up at 2:00 a.m. that I saw that the election was indeed over and Barack Obama is our president-elect. But I still wanted to see what happened here, and the stupid commentators' heads covered up Florida. So I changed channels. Heads in the way again. I gave up and pulled it up online and saw that yup, Florida went for Obama. I was so proud of my state.
I watched some of Obama's speech. Just wow. I thought it was so eloquent, so intelligent, so presidential. This is my favorite part: "...the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope." And I felt proud to be an American.
Even with the resounding rejection of the republican party. I was disappointed that Florida passed Amendment 2, the so-called "marriage protection" amendment. We have come so far toward reaching that ideal of equality that we claim to be founded upon, but we haven't come far enough.
I so agree with your last line, Kate. Why some people must be so hateful and intolerant is quite beyond my understanding; what's worse it that the ones who seem to be the least tolerant call themselves Christian, yet they fail to follow the few instructions their "Savior" gave them, like "Love one another" and "Love your enemies" -- which, if everyone did, would make a much better world. I'm proud of Florida, and whatever state it is that "Liddy" Dole moved to (she and Bob used to be from Kansas, but these careeer politicians just move around a lot!) and got thrown out as Senator after calling her Democratic opponent "godless." That one backfired! ND went Republican, of course; it has since going for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. We worked REALLY hard here, even after President-Elect Obama pulled out his 4 offices, and we came closer than we've come in years, but it wasn't enough. At least we kept our Democratic Congressman. I too am proud of my country. I think we're closer to achieving the dreams of people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Kennedy brothers. I have hope that the direction of our country, and perception of it by other countries, will be changing for the better with this new President. (And I am glad beyond words that Sarah Palin isn't a heartbeat away from an aging president....) Ummm, I bought some Christmas presents for Miss Lily. Just little ones. She won't get them until Christmas.... I hope you won't beat on me for that! I promise, nothing more!
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