President-Elect Obama

Today has been the oddest day. Floating on Cloud Nine, with only intermittant thoughts of the storms ahead. Thinking how beautiful it is to have a President actually Elected, not Selected or snuck in by hook or by crook.

But it was while watching scenes of the global celebration of President-Elect Obama that I finally understood an underlying truth. It was not America the world hated. It was our president and his insane agenda. It is him and his cronies and enablers that are despised worldwide. Whether we deserve it or not, we have been given another chance.

I like the way Paul Krugman summed it up today, short and bittersweet ...

The Monster Years (by Paul Krugman) :

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

***** And if you're a Michael Moore fan, like me, click here to read his message today.