I've had a lot of Champagne, more than a lot of pizza, and way too much of this election season. But we won. And even Parker knows how happy I am.
By "we" I mean every American who thinks losing 25% of his retirement savings happened because the governing party made out like bandits. By "we" I mean every American who thinks having a competent President is better than having one who doesn't waver in the face of insurmountable evidence. By "we" I mean every American who thinks.
American Airlines has a $200 fare to Dublin next weekend, which I'm sorely tempted to take, just to be in a foreign capital and exclaim loudly that we Americans aren't stupid. We Americans aren't ignorant. We Americans know, in our hearts and minds, that we're part of the world. We're connected. We're all in this together. We need each other.
And we've elected someone who demonstrates that. Who shows us clearly, unequivocably, that it's important. That the United States isn't an insular, 19th-century Empire, blundering around the world with more power than sense, with more arms than heads. That the United States can pull together, that a majority of us, a significant majority of us, can agree: we're part of the world, and it's important our President reflects this.
President Obama will make mistakes, he'll adovcate policies I oppose, he'll annoy our closest allies. I don't think that can be helped, given the reality of the world. But I can scarcely imagine a moment in the next four or eight years when I'll doubt his ability, or his competence, or his humanity. And even those allies he annoys, those policies I oppose, those mistakes that make me cringe, even then, I'll know it's a reasonable disagreement between people who think, between people who balance the interests of some against others, between different parts of the government.
Because what President Obama will bring is that: government. Bush sought to rule; Obama understands that a republic can't be ruled, only governed, and then only by the consent of the governed.
We won. You won. Everyone, even those who voted against Obama, won.