The Winner and Still Champion

I haven't had so many black people exchange 'knowing' glances at me in...well, in four years. I got up early this morning coughing and sick (but still handsome as hell) and went out to the newspaper machine to get a special edition "Obama Beat Mitt Romney's Ass" newspaper. I was greeted by two things.
Thing 1: Newspapers really cost a dollar now? Damn. No wonder they're going out of business.
Thing 2: A black dude at the bus stop looked over at me and said, "Congrats, Congrats!"

That's become the ceremonial greeting between people of the darker persuasion every time a black president gets elected. Suffice to say, twice. I honestly didn't think he'd pull it off. When the healthcare debate was going on I thought to myself, "Well, it was nice while it lasted." He pissed off so many people with that one--he actually pissed off so many people just by showing up the first day--that I figured he was going the route of Jimmy Carter. I sat in the house pissed all night watching the electoral college votes come in one after the other for Romney.

Now if there's one thing that I'll say about the Republicans it's that they're great motivational speakers. Just the mere possibility that they were going to win the presidency and the House made me think that I needed to go back to college to be all I can be. I was thinking about grad school, medical school, clown college, and anywhere else that could help me. The message from some of them is loud and clear: You're on your own.

I started looking for apartments away from coastal and major cities. Once we go to war with the other continents, it'll help to be near a mountainous region. To be fair, the polar bears won't pose much of a threat once global warming melts half of Antarctica down. But then I started flipping channels to see who actually had the correct count. CNN seemed hell bent on being last to the party. They were still tallying votes for John McCain when I switched to the glib folks at CNBC. I watch them daily for stock results, but hate their politics. When I saw a glimmer of despair in Maria Bartiromo's eyes I knew that there might be something there. One more station down was Fox News and the flushed red cheeks of one of their talking heads told me all that I needed to know. He did it.

Barack "Don't Call It A Comeback" Obama did it. Relief isn't even the word. I don't expect any more of a miracle than I did last time, but at least I feel like the person in charge cares. As I've been saying all along, there are three branches of government. I'm just happy to know that one branch that's controlled by one man is at least staffed with someone who knows what it's like to be in my shoes. Everything I've written about from being broke to being too dark for some and too light for others to wanting to strike a balance between where I've been and where I can go...I feel like he's been through all of that. So, no I'm not gonna run around singing that "My President Is Black" song, because I think it's just another divisive form of expression. Instead, I'll say this...my president believes in what I believe in. That doesn't happen too often.