Dear USA

So, I have often felt a lot of things that I would never post on the internet, but mostly I wasn't fond of living in the USA. Something didn't feel right. I didn't belong here. Tonight, as I cried about the changes that are possible now, I realized that what has been happening since I arrived here ten years ago for love has been a complete pile of shit, politically speaking. The last time I was in North America for an election Bill Clinton was nominated while I was at a U2/Sugarcubes concert in Vancouver, long before Bono was a figure in international politics (No - the Northern Ireland conflict was not International in the sense I'm referring to - it was a repressive colonialist regime in the only third world country in the West, but I digress). Then I moved overseas, where most of what happened here was like watching a farce played out in the pages of the WIDELY READ newspapers. Then I ended up "immigrating" home to Canada and finally to WNY, during a political campaign where "That's a Pataki" (with Pataki being synonymous with mistake/gaff/idiotic move) was the leading smear slogan - I still reference this but no one gets what I'm saying...

Anyway, while I cried a bit tonight, overwhelmed by seeing the people finally vote without corruption for something I could agree with, I realized that I never had any faith here. Clinton was demonized at the end, and then Bush cheated his way through two elections... how was I to have any faith?

As they said on Democracy Now tonight (and I paraphrase, for I've been celebrating), we'll celebrate with Barack and the others tonight, and then we'll reassume our critical stance, as journalists and citizens are meant to do in a democracy. But let's celebrate this for what it is -- it is a HUGE fork in the eye of racism and racists politics. It is a huge step forward for the voiceless, who might have a voice for the next four years. It is a signal that change is possible, even in the face of corruption. And to jump on the bandwagon, I will join the Obama Camp and suggest that this is an opportunity for hope. Certainly, it is a change from the regime we were forced to live under for far too long.