An open letter to unsatisfied American voters

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

An open letter to unsatisfied American voters

[Photo Credit. 前進 means "to progress" or "to advance"]

In December, the five years that have seen me abroad far more than at home will come to an end. I'm so excited to come home with Fanfan and settle down, but I would have done anything to be home last night as I watched see the celebrations on the news and saw people soaking in the moment that should make us all proud to be Americans. Not because we elected a black man--that, in and of itself, is not important--but because we proved that someone who is qualified, no matter what he or she looks like, can become someone important, even president.

That is the America we should be proud of.

I believe all those sappy ideas we tell ourselves about America--that there is no other place on this planet where anyone can become someone and where all should be welcome. Le happy-ending américain as one of my professors in France called it. But I've been dismayed at the face we've put forward over the last eight years, to put it very lightly: the war in Iraq, extraordinary rendition, warantless wiretapping, torture, Katrina, the profiteering of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, Enron, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, pooh-poohing the Constitution, weakening an already weak U.N. (which, like it or not, we need), the Patriot Act, and the list goes on. This is not the example we are to set if we see ourselves as the "city upon a hill." With great power comes great responsibility, and part of that is holding your country to a higher standard than you do others.

While I respect McCain for disagreeing with the Bush Administration from time to time with the administration on tactics, he didn't always disagree on strategy when it mattered. He would have made a much better president than Bush in 2000, but 2008 was not his for the taking.

I know there are those of you who are worried about the results of this election. Before I say what I'm about to say, keep in mind that I grew up in a conservative family in one of the most conservative states in the Union (South Carolina). After 9/11, I remember talking about how relieved I was that President Bush (whom I had voted for) was in office because a President Gore would have just sent a brigade of therapists to Afghanistan had he been in office. The path that has brought me to where I am now started on 9/11 and, it has been long, haul. My positions are much more moderate than they once were. I pride myself on my "extreme moderation," which I think is the product of the fact that I, and the rest of my generation, came of age politically in one of the most polarized moments in American history: post-9/11. We saw some of the pure absurdity that came out of the partisan tarring and feathering.

That said, I have read literally hundreds of articles about these two candidates, their economic, foreign, and domestic policies, and their backgrounds over the last year, and I have come to the conclusion that we now have a president who--though imperfect as all people are--is one of those rare men who seems to fit perfectly the time that chooses him. I am not alone on this (obviously). Prominent Republicans from both Bushes and Reagan's administrations, from academia, and from the upper echelons of Republicandom have come out for Obama. Some of them were simply against McCain and/or Palin, but many were for Obama. Hell, Wick Allison, the former publisher and board member of the National Review, hand-picked by William F. Buckley, Jr. said, "Barack Obama strikes a chord with me like no political figure since Ronald Reagan."

This was not a partisan election.

Still, a lot of you, even my best friends and family, think he was the wrong decision, and I respect your position, and I know there is the possibility that I am utterly wrong. But, now that another election has been put behind us, I hope you will take another look at President Obama once he is inaugurated and give him a chance to change your mind. I intend to hold him at his word, having learned my lesson with George Bush, and I assume you do to.

I look forward to coming home and doing my part to do what I can for my country and, thus, I believe, the world. It has become clear that what we need in the world is more convergence and cooperation because our problems stubbornly refuse to abide by the lines we draw around our countries. It is for this that I feel the best thing for me is to do my part for the world by doing my part for my country, and I can't wait.

What a great day this is for us. It truly is a great day to be an American.

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