My own personal celebration

Oh oh oh please may I gush???
Thank you, you are kind. I know, I repeat myself, but hey.

The Inauguration, by Me:

• wow it’s actually really happening.
• this guy is really becoming President!
• a black man is becoming President of the US!
• OMG look at all those people!!! There’s like millions!
• OMG look how happy they are! They are crying! OMG!
• aw look at them, they’re excited about Hillary, about Biden, look at them being happy!
• oooooh the girls, loook at them, they are so cute, and OMG there’s Michelle, she’s gonna be First Lady in a moment!
• oh there’s monkeyboy! Not much longer to go now, out with you, out! Oh look, he looks sad, I almost feel sorry
• OMFG there he is, look at how dignified and amazing he looks, what a man, he looks so cool, OMG
• [as he steps out for the crowds to see & everyone cheers] Waaaaaaaaah!!!! :((
• [skip Rick Warren rubbish, yada Aretha, yada Joe sworn in, quartet yawn]
• [Obama oath] this is history being made right there!!!!!! Aw look at them all, smileyyy! 😡
• BARACK OBAMA IS THE US PRESIDENT, FO’ REAL!!!! *cue flood gates again*
• Nice speech. (ok, mea culpa, I admit I didn’t give him my full attention at this point, I was texting and chatting and being excited)
• Ugh poem, boring (I actually re-read it later and really liked it. The rendition really let it down.)
• Aaawww, Rev. Lowery, how fecking cute is HE, can I have him????
• [national anthem] LOOK AT THEM! So cute, so happy, so proud, what a great country, hello can I come please???

 
I watched CNN and/or BBC from the moment I got back from work (early) til I went to bed (late) and the whole experience was just in-fucking-credible. CNN.com had this weird but fun partnership going on with Facebook, where people could change their status as they watched, and other people watching could read, and I loved the feeling of unity this provided. All these updates from around the world, all these people being excited / proud / hopeful / full of expectations about the same thing, it was really really really moving.

And I don’t want this to end. I know it won’t last forever, reality will set in, he may disappoint (some of) our expectations – how can he not, the circumstances he’s got to work with are some of the harshest in a century. The bitching will start soon enough (I’m discounting those who bitched all along, they don’t count, ugh). The unforgiving scrutiny will take over soon. And that’s how it should be of course. He shouldn’t get a free ticket just because half the world thinks he’s the Messiah. He’s not of course. Even I know that (kinda…).

But – I am simply loving this sense of togetherness, happiness, excitement, I can’t get enough of it and I keep coming back for more – personal accounts, picture reports, online discussions, all of it. It’s such an amazing feeling, which admittedly I have never really felt, or indeed wanted to feel, before (except, maybe, 9/11 – US as well, ironically. and Bush’s strongest hour, unfortunately).

Something else I have never done is put this level of trust, hope, and positive expectations, in a politician. While I have always had strong political convictions (I could never be a swing voter, unless, say, the lefties had a holocaust denier or sth), I’ve never really had any deep sympathies for any particular candidate or party. But this guy, wow! If I was a US citizen I may well have got involved in his campaign (and considering my laziness / introversion / hatred of people that’s a big thing).

I’m totally jealous of Americans right now. So that’s something else Obama’s campaign has done – it has reconciled, even enamoured me with another bit of America, to the point where I could actually imagine living there. Not just for six months to experience NYC, but actually being an American citizen and – well, not being ashamed of it, and maybe even proud.

See, I could go on about this for ages, and I could go off in countless different directions. I could tell you about how I wish we had an Obama in Europe. How cool it would be to have the United States of Europe. How truly amazing the guy has got to be simply by the fact that he’s (half-)black. Because he never would’ve got the popular vote if he wasn’t way above the cut. Which is another reason why he won’t disappoint.

And I think that’s actually where I will end this entry. I HAVE CONSIDERABLE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THIS GUY WON’T DISAPPOINT. And I am fucking loving that.