My only political post, then it's back to business as usual...

As you all are well aware, I have not used this blog as a forum for my politics. I do that elsewhere (often in the form of screaming obscenities at my TV). This blog is not about all of my life, there are things I choose to share here and things I choose to keep separate. But just because I do not discuss my political beliefs here does not mean that I'm not passionate about them, and for me, this was the most dramatic election of my life, and one I am proud to have been a part of. And I know that I would regret not addressing that, even a tiny bit, here somehow.

Plenty of people have blogged about this election, and most more eloquently than I could have. What touches me most are the feelings about how this moment in our history will affect our children, and the sentiments about bridging the divide from becoming Red and Blue to being AMERICANS. So here's a few words from a few of the bloggers I read daily. I couldn't have said it better.

From Mighty Girl:
"I was touched by Senator McCain’s concession speech last night. For too long, our politicians have been focused on winning at any cost, even at the expense of the very ideals that inspired them to lead. McCain’s grace and humility in the face of defeat was a reminder that winning can’t confer honor, and defeat needn’t diminish us.
...
To my fellow U.S. citizens, however you voted, I know you only want the best for your family, and for your country. And no matter what your political affiliation, you and I are still on the same team.

Go America."

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From Our Name is Blog's Lorrie Veasy, in a letter to her children:

"This is a happy day on so many levels. It is a day I feel like I could hug complete strangers. It is a day I believe that the electorial system in our country actually can serve the people--if the people turn out. It is a day when I am happy for all people of color-especially those whose ancestors built this country on the backs of their slave labor. It is a day ripe with HOPE. It is a day when many of us got in line behind a good man who promised us that together we could create change.

I celebrate this day because I think this man will help make this world a better place for YOU. I hope when you read this note that there is peace, and polar bears, universal health care, and that Uncle Robert got to marry his boyfriend."

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And from Dooce, in her montly newsletter to her daughter, Leta:

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night, how your father and I and millions of other people across the country helped elect the first African American president. Leta, you are so lucky to have been born in an era where this is possible, in a time where generations have come together to stop the sick cycle of bigotry that has been passed down from fathers to sons, mothers to daughters, where we have finally stood up and said, enough, we are more civilized than all of that. I have never been more proud to be an American than I am today, and when you are old enough to understand the significance of this election, when years from now you ask me where I was when I found out that Barack Obama had won, I'll tell you that while there were millions of people dancing in the streets and gathered at parties, thousands more across the world chanting in impromptu parades, I was sitting on the couch next to your father, our fingers intertwined, the two of us alone with the dogs asleep at our feet. The television was an eruption of noise and chaos, but we sat there quietly absorbing the moment, worried that if we blinked we'd wake up out of a dream.

There have been moments today when I haven't believed it, have worried that I imagined everything. Having grown up in the South I didn't ever think this could happen, not when I and so many of my peers had so much indoctrination to overcome, years of being intentionally and sometimes unintentionally taught by seemingly well-meaning superiors that the color of your skin makes you different. And yet, while this election is a firm rejection of that kind of thinking, it's also about how this man brought so many people together and inspired us by his example to focus not on bickering or hurt feelings or the vast divide of our differences, but on rolling up our sleeves and looking for a way to bridge that chasm. And Leta, I finally feel like we may have the momentum to change and fix so much of what has gone wrong — from economics to the environment, to health care and humanitarian disasters — that instead of leaving your generation with a burden almost impossible to climb, there is hope that we may in fact leave you with a world that is better than the one you were born into. I know I am not alone when I say that my vote in this election was as much for his vision as it was for you and your future."

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And, from me. Now that all is said and done, I want to work with you, not against you. I want our lives to be better, not just mine. I want us ALL to participate in the next four years, not to just throw up our hands and say our part is done, post-election. He's not my president! Don't blame me! That was wrong to say in the past 8 years, and it would be wrong to do now. I know many of you do not believe in our new President Elect. But I do, and if you'll indulge me, listen to me when I ask you to give him a chance to show you why we've made the right choice. Let's all put aside the attacks and hurt feelings and blame and let's meet back in four years, and look over it all objectively and see if we can't say, "You know, we really are better off today, the world is becoming a better place."

I promise to bake you a pretty cake and not to say "I told you so."