President Obama
Congratulations, President Obama. I am sincerely happy today and I believe you are as well. I’m sure you are exhausted in a variety of ways, and I wish that your grandmother could have seen last night.
I am trying to figure out why, exactly, I am happy today.
Despite Fox news’ pronouncements, racism is not over in America. In fact all of the focus and self-congratulatory ‘look at us! we elected a black man!’ I think cheapens the moment because you, President Obama, were elected on the issues. Let’s not forget that. It was very easy for the news media to avoid exactly what the voters said last night by focusing exclusively on the cultural significance of race in America. Huge numbers of people who make over 200,000 dollars a year voted for Obama, even though he will “redistribute wealth.” Huge numbers of people voted health care last night. And huge numbers voted because our economy has gone squarely down the toilet and everyone is leaping off and grasping for lifebouys, which we all hope can be your ideas come to fruition, Mr. President.
This is a moment of huge cultural significance, to be sure. As Tiff said, McCain obliquely apologized for slavery last night! It wasn’t even an issue until it became clear that Obama had won. “Somehow getting his ass handed to him on a plate made him all sensitive and shit,” is one of the more astute observations I’ve heard of last night. Just like somehow Obama winning means we no longer have an incredibly racist, institutional and otherwise, society.
I voted for you because I do think that with you in office, maybe, just maybe we can push some things forward that we haven’t been able to do in the past. And so now, today, now that you have time to rest, recover, and reflect, I want to remind you of some things.
Did you know that yesterday, Israel took advantage of the media attention on you to break ceasefire and invade and attack Gaza in the north, center and south, strike from the air and with artillery, bulldoze houses and kill at least half a dozen people? Did you have time to see the observations of the former High Commissioner for Human Rights’s visit to Gaza?
Do you remember all of the Iraqi refugees we are responsible for creating and yet have taken no responsibility for?
Do you realize that with a majority democratic House and Senate now is absolutely the time to do healthcare? It is absolutely the time.
Do you realize that the fact that we suffer from poor health markers in this country is directly related to the shameful amounts of money we spend on a military used to occupy and not to protect?
Tomorrow is the time. Well, maybe you can rest up for a few weeks and play with that puppy you mentioned last night.
But as you said in your email last night about how this happened because of us… we already know that. I know that this happened because the kids came out and worked, because the black people came out and VOTED, because my friend’s immigrant mothers gave themselves swollen and aching feet canvassing and putting up with racial slurs from unfriendly neighbors. We know that. We just want to make sure that YOU remember.
Because now that you hold the most powerful leadership position in the world, we’re going to bring you this stuff. We’re going to bring you Palestine, we’re going to bring you universal healthcare, we’re going to bring to you getting out of our neo-colonialist interests in the Middle East, and we’re going to bring you our student debt and the fundamental injustice that students have to resort to selling their souls to the military to get an education. My only hope here is that when you remember last night, you will have the courage to confront these things, and never shrink from the task.
We elected you, sir. And so we don’t want to hear you pandering or selling out on the things we care about. We are your base. If you listen to us, and if you continue to ask for our support and listen to what we will absolutely continue to say, I think I can cautiously continue to be happy.
