Wednesday, February 14, 2007

A Change For the Better

I have been thinking a lot lately about how interesting the presidential primary could be--a woman, a Black man, a Mormon are all in the running. This has happened before, actually. The difference this time is that these are all candidates to be taken seriously. Politics aside, I'd like to think that most rational Americans would see such a ballot as a great step forward.

In particular, there has been much talk recently about Senator Obama. People have unwittingly made some stupid comments. What I think is remarkable about this confident visionary is not his color, and certainly not his color combined with great intelligence and understanding, it is that the greater population is finally ready for this important step in our country's history. It is not that a Black man is "capable" of running for president, it is that white men and women can finally accept such a thing. It is that our country can finally accept a legitimate woman candidate. It is that the Mormon faith has become so mainstream that it may not be a stumbling block to his candidacy. This is a hard time in our nation's history. Our divisions are deep. But the candidates in the next election show that my generation is poised to finally see beyond differences to our similarities.

In other notes, the thing with my colleague finally blew over. It didn't end super well; she was pretty resentful about the fact that I had made her "look bad" by taking care of much of the mess myself and giving a list of estimated damages to our principal with little input from her. I just smiled and nodded. It was hard, but I refrained from saying, "Did it ever occur to you that you made YOURSELF look bad?" Our relationship has cooled somewhat, but I don't think I completely burned the bridge. It just needs some repair work.

4 comments:

Desmama said...

Oh, how I love delusional people. I'm sorry about your coworker. Not knowing her nor the situation in-depth, I wasn't sure what to advise, but I've realized that some things may not go well no matter what we do. This sounds like such a situation. I think you did the right thing and did as much of it as non-invasively as you could.

Interesting thoughts on the politics thing. I, on the other hand, have been truly astounded at the amount of attention Romney's religion is apparently weighing in as he begins his candidacy. A lot of people seem to be truly skeptical of Mormons and the old stereotypes seem to persist. Perhaps I'm not perceiving things accurately. I hope I'm not. It sure is disheartening. I would hope we'd examine his political views and what he's done as a politician, not as a Mormon or anything else.

As for Obama, I'm really liking him so far. He seems very down-to-earth. My sister gave me his book, The Audacity of Hope, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Christy said...

I might actually vote for a change!

Rainie said...

Sorry about the co worker situation, it sounds like you handled it the perfect way. The presidential race will be the most interesting yet. I hope everyone is open to the ideas and views and not the stereotypes that the media is pinning on each person.

Rainie said...

How am I on your blog, and in company posting with desmama and on the run posting about politics. I don't think I fit in here.