Post Election Void and on to Euphoria

Happy New Year to all my faithful blog readers. 

To fill the post-election void, Howard and I traveled to China and SE Asia. From the Great Wall

To the Beijing Opera:

To the Olympic Village Birdnest

It was a wonderful escape from USA politics plus an extraordinary "look" into our daughter and  son-in-law's Shanghai lifestyle (you may remember Rebecca and Aaron have been living and working in Shanghai since April, 2008). 

We visited Beiijin, Xian, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. 

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

There is nothing like world travel to open your eyes to the bigness and smallness of the world! Once again, Happy New Year to all! 

The Victory and The Void

The MORNING AFTER

Surely everyone has witnessed not only Barack Obama's elegant victory and but also his exquisite victory speech. I didn't want him to stop talking. After 8 loooong years of you-know-who-it was heavenly to listen to an American leader sounding so smart and speaking with such grace, intellect and compassion.

The VOID

But today, while nursing my victory "hangover", I have to admit I feel a void. I have been 100% focused on this endless campaign: raising money, raising awareness, and of course, raising my voice for a new American policy direction.

What am I going to do? Will the TV Talking heads still hold my attention. Will I watch these TV shows everyday with with same intense attention? Will I surf the internet for the latest update? Will I now have to use my time for accomplishing long-overdue tasks like: cleaning my closet?! 

I suspect I'll do a few "catch-up" jobs but mostly, knowing me, I'll stay  in "worry mode". Before today, I worried about the election.

Now, I'll worry about:

Who is John Stewart and Stephen Colbert going to make of now?

Who is Chris Matthews, Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow going to exhort?

What will Chuck Todd analyze?

And, most worrisome: how much more vitriol will be spewed from Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the other right winger radio/TV talkers.

Random thought:

Maybe it's time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine-abolished during Ronald Reagan's administration allowing all the partisan broadcasting we experience today. Maybe this reversal was not a good thing--For anyone. Some of the talking heads -on both sides-have been-and I fear will continue to be-brutal. 

THE NEW PRESIDENT 

Barack Obama is a unique candidate. Although all the talking heads and news journalists keep going on and on about Barack's blackness, President-Elect Obama is not a traditional "black candidate". His candidacy was not a "black grievance" campaign. Rather his campaign and now his presidency will be of "possibilities"...what we can achieve together; he wants us to be a team. I think he'll be able to count on us.

Obama appealed to the basic fabric of American life...what we all want for our families...and in the end, when people voted, people realized we are all in this big American boat TOGETHER. And when you're in leaky boat, it does not matter the captain's skin color, you want the captain to save the ship so all don't drown!

GIVING UP POWER

The most hard-to-win-cohort was the white male over 50 years. Since the founding of this country, the Older White Male has reigned supreme and no one likes to relinquish power. But the changing fabric of the American "melting pot" has brought a multitude of shades and beliefs to the political table. And while-in the end-this is a good thing-in the short term, it won't be easy.  There is no going back. This is a country based on merit and diversity is here to stay. And the broader the diversity, the better. 

GOBAMA!!