Is anyone else having this problem?
I went from such a patriotic, ready-for-the-future, nonviolent revolution high last night to such a low today when I looked around at all of the cons. First thing I see on my Facebook this morning is a smattering of liberal cheering surrounded by a veritable plethora of conservative griping. I realize that people were bound to be disappointed, but the anger, and even fear in some cases, is really disheartening.
I have seen everything from people complaining about "the same people calling for unity are the same ones that never got behind Bush," (did these people pay attention to the past 8 years?) to people starting pools debating the date of what would be one of the single lowest points in our history that will, god willing, never arrive.
Groups calling for the impeachment of President-Elect Barack Obama have already emerged.
I was there last night. I was in Grant Park. If I stood tall, leaned forward and looked to the right I saw him. I heard it and saw it live and in person.
It was one of the greatest moments in my life. The feeling of unity and hopefulness was tangible. We all felt great. I left feeling better about the future of this great nation than I have at any point in my 25 years. Chicago is a terribly segregated town, but last night it didn't matter. Everyone was together celebrating and it was truly amazing.
But after the things I have seen and heard today, I fear that the hill we have to climb alongside our 44th President is steep, far steeper than I realized. I knew their would be detractors, that the economic woes we faced would take a lot to get through; but I had no idea the hate that would spew forth. I have tried hard to not gloat, to not brag, to be understanding of those that are disappointed because I have been there before. But those that are truly angry are just heartbreaking to me because we have, what I feel, is the best chance for progress we have had in my lifetime but he and we can not do it alone.
Frankly, it has made me realize that I have a disproportionate number of conservative friends considering my far-left views. I guess I just needed to vent somewhere to the left after spending so much time listening to the right.
Update 1
I JUST received this in my Facebook inbox:
I couldn’t disagree more. It was the most divisive campaign I’ve ever seen. He and his surrogates divided people by race, class, and gender. He stoked jealousy and resentment. I was completely disappointed. He was supposed to be “a different kind of candidate.” He was anything but different. He exacerbated concepts of class warfare and envy. He has never once sponsored a piece of bipartisan legislation or made any effort to reach out to anyone with a different ideology before this election. In case you haven’t heard, here’s what he said about “working class” people at a San Francisco rally.
"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
It sounds like he is the one with antipathy towards those who aren’t like him. That isn’t unity. That doesn’t bring people together. He has tried to silence his opposition, such as when the Washington Times backed John McCain and they were thrown off of his airplane or when Democrat surrogates searched personal records of Joe Wurzelbacher in an effort to smear him simply because he asked a simple question. What about when his surrogates sent a team of investigators to try to find “dirt” on Sarah Palin? She was the target of an aggressive smear campaign, one of the worst character assassinations of our time. Those tactics divide people. I’m not saying the McCain campaign was perfect in anyway, but they didn’t claim that they were going to “bring the world together,” either.
There’s no difference between yesterday and today. Al Qaeda is still fighting a war against us. Russia, Iran, and multiple nations still feel the same way they always have. They don’t hate George Bush, they hate what America stands for. They despise our freedoms. They hate people who aren’t controlled by their government. Senator Obama can’t change the way they feel about us. Frankly, I don’t care that those nations hate us at all. Barack Obama isn’t going to provide us with freedom, we had that to begin with. We were the greatest nation on earth 150 years before Barack Obama’s grandparents were born. America became great by going against the grain, even when the rest of the world wasn’t behind us. I’d rather “go it alone” and know I was doing the right thing then just act to appease others ("others" being western Europe). We're 5% of the world population but protect all 100%.
Unrealistic hopes can lead to colossal disappointment. If you support his policies and his ideology, that’s one thing. Go ahead and vote for him (which you obviously already did). Don’t tell me he’s this great unifier, he’s just a consummate politician. I have a feeling if John McCain was elected you’d be singing a different tune. The same people who are telling us we need to cede and get behind Senator Obama because they say so were the ones throwing eggs at houses with Bush/Cheney signs and blaming them for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I find that extremely hypocritical. By the way, his first Presidential appointment is Rahm Emmanuel, perhaps the most partisan Representative in the house. Remember him, the guy who told one of his staffers, “The Republicans can go f*ck themselves!” It sounds like he’s trying to unify people already.
Regards,