The World I Know

by Collective Soul

Like almost everyone in the US and around the world, I am still in awe of what happened yesterday. But most of all, I am immensely proud. I am proud to be one the 63 million people who cast their votes to elect Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States of America. I remember saying about 5 to 6 years that I would not live to see the day that anybody who was not a white man be President. I happy to have been proven wrong. Needless to say, when people say that this is a game-changer it truly is. I remember being taught about the Presidents, Congress, and government in school. And I remember how teachers would say that anybody could be President but deep down, I knew that this country would never elect someone like me, a Korean American being raised by a single mother. But guess what, we just elected a half-Kenyan/half-white man who lived in Indonesia as a child, grew up in Hawaii, raised by his mother and grandmother, and has a name that school children would have a field day mocking. So yeah when this re-affirms the American dream, it really does. But as many people have said, this election was more than just about Barack Obama. This moment now belongs to all of those generations of people of color who were denied their basic human rights simply because of their skin color. And this moment shows that the we are moving beyond our regrettable past when it comes to race relations even if some people bitterly cling to it. I mean the Republicans dished out everything against Obama - Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Obama the Muslim, Socialist, Elitist, etc. All in a vain attempt to make Obama seem foreign, non-American, simply for the fact that he disagreed with their rigid ideology and he didn't look like or have a name like Bush or Palin.

Now I know one is supposed to be gracious in victory and defeat. Nobody likes a gloater but this has been a long time coming. So without further adieu, here is a bunch of "SUCK IT'S" from me personally.

- To my kindergarden through 1st grade classmates at Sunrise Elementary School in Spokane Washington who relentlessly mocked me because my eyes looked different. SUCK IT! Your President-elect doesn't look like you!

- To anyone who has ever mocked my last name "Choi" out of spite such as "Choi Body" "Bok Choy" or many other variants of it. SUCK IT!!!! My last name more reassembles the president-elect's last name than say good ole boy names like Anderson, Williams, or Smith.

- To those die hard fundamentalist Christians who I used spar with in person and online - SUCK IT!!! Wow, I guess in a few short months, things like science will be used to determine policy on say stem cells, sex education, climate change, and foreign policy rather than your fucked up ideology.

- To Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glen Beck, Fox News, Bill Kristol and all those other conservative pundits - SUCK IT!!!! I guess 63 million (or 52%) americans are socialist, terrorist fist bumping sympathizers. Apparently, the only true Americans according to you guys live in the south (or wait I guess we now must subtract Virgina, Florida, and possibly North Carolina from that now).

So yeah it is a really gratifying election for me. The complete opposite of how I felt in 2004. The only downer is that California (correction the Central Valley and parts of Southern California) voted in ban gay marriage. Long-time Dave blog readers already know my opinion on marriage. Such a sacred institution in which 43% of people in the US choose not to honor and get a divorce from obviously needed protection. Oh yes and let's not forget the major non-existent threat gay marriage who have posed to children who would have to be taught about it school - oh wait! Children are not required to be taught about marriage in school but if they were, we would want them taught about the sanctity of straight marriage such as Britany and K-Fed, Anna Nicole Smith and that really old dude she married and then inherited all that money from, and of course Bristol Palin and that teenager that knocked her up. Obviously those straight marriages are by their very nature and not their quality better than any conceivable gay marriage. At least that is what the California constitution will say. A big fuck you to the Mormom Church from me for dumping millions into supporting that proposition.

But all well, enough about politics. This is still a great moment in American history and I am glad to have experienced it. I am optimistic (which is rare for me) about the direction our country is heading. But most of all, I am happy to see that for once, enough people saw reason, logic, and judgment to make the right call. Until next time, peace.