Yea! It's Election Day!

Could a democracy be more robust or exciting than America's is on this very day? This has been the most exciting, most nail-biting, most fascinating, most emotionally-exhausting election I have ever seen in my entire life. And today history is made with a new African-American president of the United States of America. I'm proud to go to a new country tomorrow, the Czech Republic, represented by such a wise and inspiring leader.

Is it just me or did this election make you cry a lot? All of the women in my family cry at a drop of a hat, and this election it seemed like it was all the time. Barack would make me cry at least twice a week as I heard him speak; watching the pride of old black people at Barack's rallies made me cry; hearing a young college woman stand up and say to John McCain in a quavering voice, "Thank you Senator, for your service to our country. I appreciate my freedom." All of it made me cry!

Probably the clip that reduced my family to tears the most is Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama when he asked us "doesn't the little 7-year-old Muslim boy have the right to dream that he too can be President of the United States?" I believe that clip will be played as often as Martin Luther King's clip asking for his children to be judged on the content of their character.

The aspect of the campaign I found most worrisome was not the racism expressed, or the judging of some parts of the country as anti-American. All of that was overwhelmed by the large number of people wanting to be unified, not divided.

I was worried by what I see as an institutionalized anti-intellectualism in the Republican party. What does it say about education levels in our country when one party constantly stokes resentment toward the educated calling them "elite?" The Republican intellectuals abandoned ship in disgust.

No one really challenged John McCain when he repeatedly derided giving $3 million to the world-class Adler Planatarium in Chicago for it's overhead projector of the night sky. Thousands and thousands of schoolchildren go to that planatarium on field trips. Don't you want to increase America's scientific literacy rating from 17th in the world to 1st, John?

No one challenged him when he derided DNA studies of grizzly bears. Don't you want grizzly bears to survive in your America, Senator McCain? I do. Let's study them.

The voters who made me most personally proud were the 2.9 million people of my home state of Iowa. The voters of this state, mostly rural and 97% white, which collectively have created two universities ranked in the top 100 globally (through taxes, I might add!) proved two things before anyone else did: 1) white people will vote for a black candidate, and 2) young people will turn out and exercise their right to vote. Iowa is where it all started for our new President. That too made me cry in hope and pride!

I told all of my friends it was going to be a landslide. We'll find out tonight!

The Improbability of Barack Obama

My favorite moment last night during the Democratic convention was when John McCain's commercial congratulating Barack Obama on his nomination was played with his words “too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations. How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day [45 years to the day Martin Luther King gave his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial]. Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it [campaigning] . But tonight, Senator, job well done.” For the few minutes of that commercial we we're able to enjoy being united as Americans and proud of how far we've come as a country. That was classy.

Last night was a constant reminder of the sheer improbability of Barack Obama's rise. Knowing how important good daddies are to succeeding, that he could make it to Harvard Law School and be elected by his peers as President of the Law Review without any guidance from his daddy...well that's beyond my ability to fathom and comprehend. He made the improbable happen. How did he do that?

To be the nominee of the Democratic party, when eight years ago he couldn't even get a ticket to the event, again, it's beyond my ability to fathom and comprehend how he did that. He once again made something completely improbable happen.

There can be only one explanation - greatness.

It makes me curious what completely improbable accomplishments he will make happen for our entire country. I'm excited to find out.

Godspeed, Barack Obama, Godspeed.

Do you think it's time to add world geography to the American curriculum?

Quick, somebody ask John McCain what's the name of the country that used to be called Burma. See if he gets it right. Here is a highly entertaining story in the Huffington Post about McCain getting razzed by NONE OTHER than George Bush for his ignorance in continuing to call the Czech Republic Czechoslovakia. Even George knew that Czecho was no more.



The other item in the campaign today that is ALL the talk is the satirical cover of the New Yorker magazine portraying the Obamas as Osama acolytes. The New Yorker says it's satire of right-wing fearmongering, the Obamas say it's tasteless. Gee, they're both right. Ain't freedom grand?



On a non-satirical note, the good people of Denver are really, really excited preparing for Obama's acceptance speech which will take place in late August at Democratic convention in Denver. The convention is being held at the Pepsico Center, a basketball venue. It holds 20,000+ people. The Democratic National Committee is moving the speech to Invesco Field (lovingly known by locals as Mile High Stadium, home of the Denver Broncos football team).

Invesco Field holds 77,000+ people, plus they'll be able to put more seats on the actual field so as many people as possible will be able to witness this historic moment.

The part that truly makes me pause, pause with both reverence and appreciation for the flexibility of our democracy, is Senator Obama's acceptance speech will take place 45 years to the day that Martin Luther King uttered "I Have a Dream Today" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.