by JASON RAEDE
I watched the election unfold at my buddy's apartment in downtown Jerusalem. After giving up hope at 4:30 AM, I woke up at 7 to catch Obama's speech.
I
was captivated. Maybe not so much as the black ladies on the verge of
tears, or the jubilant GWU students dancing in front of the White
House, but I felt the emotion. Regardless of my feelings for the man,
he is going to be the next President of the United States, and for that
much, I'm happy for him. And I respect him.
I'd like to be
excited for the change to come. I'd like to be excited for "better
opportunities." The problem is, I know too much about him. I arguably
know more about him than 99% of the people in the world, because my job
for the past four months has been essentially to dig up dirt.
My
conclusion is this: His past contains everything bad he has to offer.
His speeches contain everything good. He's mesmerizing. Even I felt
drawn to him. But again, I know too much about him to be excited. I
know what he has stood for in the past; I know who his friends are; I
know what he voted for. And knowing all that, I can honestly say I'm
scared of what's to come.
I'm a rational person. I'm not going
to sit around clamoring for a recount, threatening to move to Canada,
or react in any other foolish manner reminiscent of 2000 and 2004. I'm
going to put behind Barack Obama what little faith I have in his
ability to successfully lead this country. I can only hope that I'm
wrong about him - and if I'm not, well, we'll have four years of hell,
and hopefully Israel and American capitalism will still exist at the
end of it all. And with that hell will come more policies to criticize, more speeches to analyze, and much, much more dirt to dig up.
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