It's a new day. Obama is in office, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, hope abounds. Wonderful. Great. I'm reveling in it just as much as the next northern California liberal but I have to say that my happiness is tinged with a bit of disappointment.
Obama's been in office eight whole days now and still I'm hearing snippets of nasty bad mouthing about our former Commander in Chief from folks all over town. It really bums me out. I disliked Bush too, believe me I did. I thought he did and said the wrong thing most of the time, so much so that over the past eight years I basically stopped listening to his speeches and press conferences, stopped watching the news, stopped clicking on any of the online headlines having to do with him. Until Obama hit the scene I was politically disaffected.
However, when I hear people talk about George W. as though he was purposely evil, that he was malevolent in his intent for this country, I disagree. Yes, he screwed up this country, and to some extent this world, but I have to believe that he did what he thought was good at the time. I have to believe that his heart was in a good place if not the right place. Otherwise I lose faith completely.
Barack Obama has brought discipline, smarts, concern, responsibility, coolness and most importantly dignity back to this nation. If we want to fix what's broken in this world, we must first find our dignity. It is not dignified to bad mouth a former president with such hatred and disgust, no matter how much he or she might deserve such ridicule. It just isn't.
Let's move forward with our glittering hope and make change happen instead of looking back over our shoulders and spitting on our history, however bleak it may look to us now -- now that there is so much to look forward to.
