Brand New Day
I didn’t vote in 2000 – not for President, not for student senate, not even for what burrito chain should survive on Massachusetts St. in Lawrence (Chipotle won). In fact I never really paid attention to politics in college. I double majored in Film and Computer Science which kept me extremely busy. Everyone I knew who was politically active in College never seemed to do anything; they just wanted to talk about it. Who had time for that?
I didn’t start paying attention to politics until I graduated in 2001, so for all intents and purposes all I’ve known is the past 8 years and everything that went along – 9/11, Unilateralism, WMD’s (or lack thereof), failure on two fronts, Supreme Court appointees and the Nuclear Option, economic collapse, and on and on. In most of these cases it seemed to me like no one really cared about what was best for the country or the people who elected them. Winning at all cost seemed to be the only goal, as if decisions that affect nations could always be simplified down between two opposing viewpoints, between right and wrong. Leadership from both sides seem guilty of this single mindedness, leading to an endless blame game of whose fault
I did vote in 2008 as I care more about politics now – you could say I’m a latte drinking NPR junkie filmmaker if you need a label. I know many people who see Obama as sunshine breaking through storm clouds, as if one man can transform our entire political system. Even though what I’ve seen so far has been promising I’m not ready to drop my cynicism. Throughout his campaign the word “hope” was used as a mantra, so here is what I am hopeful for. I know the problems we face will require difficult, unpopular decisions, and can only hope the men and women we elected to make them will make those hard calls instead of devolving into partisan bickering. As a country I hope we stop fighting about who is right and instead start agreeing on what is right. Mostly, I’m just hoping for a better tomorrow. These are things we can all agree on.
January 20th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
A lot of us (myself included) have probably expected a little too much of Barack Obama. He won’t solve all our problems, and by the time he leaves office, he’ll probably have pissed off a lot of folks…
But today, for the first time in twenty years… (twenty years, people!) … the man in the White House is not named Bush or Clinton. And that alone is reason to hope.