What I find funny

I'll openly admit that I was OBSESSED with the Democratic Primary before it even began. Remember Obama's 2004 speech at the DNC at Kerry's behest? I remember sitting there that night, listening to this bright young man (though he was older than I) and thinking, "he's the one to watch." And all through the year leading up to Obama's declaration of a Presidential Exploratory Committee being formed...I was watching and listening. Then, the Primaries began. In our house, (which consists of myself, my husband, my best friend Bob and his boyfriend Steve, our dog and two cats) one could always count on coming home to the sound of CNN or MSNBC blaring in the kitchen, living room, and downstairs, spouting the latest poll numbers or gossip.

We watched every single speech.

I mean EVERY. SINGLE. SPEECH.

So much that you really began to memorize their platforms, talking points, points to avoid, canned jokes, and anything in between. If you saw it on one station, you saw it rehashed on the next.

But through watching all of this (and reading his books), I personally thought I'd come to quite a multi-faceted understanding of Barack Obama. As much as the right painted him as an extreme liberal, I knew this was not true. Even as much as Hillary painted him as a liberal (HA!) when it was to her advantage, I knew this was not true.

I'm no political savant, nor a sheep (I'd like to think). But one thing I'd like to say I have is an affinity for attention to detail. And Obama's devil was in his details. He never tried to hide just how conservative he could be (I'm sure many conservatives would find that thought laughable, but pffft to them) but he did try to downplay how liberal he was. Some on the right thought it was intentional for the benefit of the election--I, however, saw it as preparation. Preparation=warning for those who so wholeheartedly supported the first black Democratic nominee for President for only those reasons--that he was black and/or a Democrat. I think those in this country who fit into that category wanted to believe that a President Obama would mean social/civil freedoms as far as the eye could see--and they may be right--eventually. But make no mistake, the changes will not be automatic nor easy. Obama's essential understanding is that no progress has ever been made without compromise. No compromise has ever been reached without hard-fought idealism and more than a little pain. So while he may well agree with many of America's liberal leanings, he is nowhere near stupid enough to voice it, even if it is true. There are a lot of people in this country still who are not ready for the America that we're going to be. It doesn't make them any less American than we are. But it does make for slow progress--though it is progress nonetheless. And so Obama will continue to appoint Republicans to his cabinet, and he well should. Because no one side has all the answers, although both would like to think they do. It doesn't have to be only socialism v. capitalism, or liberal v. conservative, Democrat v. Republican. We CAN take the best of both worlds on all fronts--we just have to get out of our own way long enough to do so.

This is what I find funny--that Obama continually told the electorate what they could expect from him, yet now they keep expecting different results--that he's going to be the magical liberal they'd hoped he would be, and the first black President to boot!

Sorry guys, but I'll take a President who at least attempts to be honest (even when it's hugely unpopular) any day. If it moves us further toward that promised land in The Glorious Center, I'm there.