Remember, Remember

Yes we can?

That's old news:



An updated rhyme for November 5th, 2008:

Remember, remember the Fourth of November,
the unlikely candidate's bid.
Perhaps we should ban the phrase "Yes We Can,"
since yesterday We - in fact - Did.

On a personal note, I'm more numb than euphoric. Nothing has sunken in yet. As someone inclined toward studying history, I have trained myself to detect nuance and extract meaning from minor and obscure moments. My feelings about it, therefore, are akin to Epicureanism. But when history happens in a wave - as opposed to a steady, subtle drop, drop, drop - it overwhelms the system a bit. And in that way I'm just as helpless as anyone else in figuring out exactly how I feel today.

This, however, I know: The United States grew up last night. If you're an optimist you might read in this election the affirmation of our founding ideals. If you're a pessimist, you might believe this is an isolated triumph in the long, slow decline of the Republic. But regardless of where you sit on that spectrum, this individual event is unmistakably positive.

However our current struggles and problems play out, we can be justifiably proud of this moment. And no matter what happens to the President-Elect (I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about his safety), nobody can take it away.