Excuse me, while I cry tears of shocked joy.
I was born at an unfortunate time, a period of a New Gilded Age in the 90s and extreme political incompetence in the new millennium. To become politically active meant to learn to hate government and its excesses and corruption, and to anguish as soldiers died, the elderly lost healthcare coverage, and poverty exploded.
Imagine my shock, then, from the moment Obama began speaking. And he began making sense.
I sat up in my chair. I moved closer to the television screen. I listened intently. A joyful, euphoric thought crossed my mind: "Holy shit. We have a serious president."
We have a president, ladies and gentlemen! Radical expansion of health care. Withdrawal from Iraq. Reinvestment in schools and infrastructure. An actual commitment to alternate energy. If someone had predicted these pronouncements to come from a U.S. president a couple years ago, I would have asked for the maker of their medication.
Even now, I still can't shake the levity of the situation, the notion that we can have faith in a brilliant, motivated, driven leader who speaks to us like we're ADULTS who are ready to improve the country.
As an e-mailing wrote to Andrew Sullivan: "After eight years of being talked to like a child (or an idiot), my president is speaking to me like I am an intelligent adult. This is going to take some getting used to."
Passionate and urgent as Bobby Jindal's rebuttal was dull and out of touch, our moment has arrived.
The revolution is before our eyes, people. Let us embrace it!
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