Post Election Report: part 1, Two Americas

In Barack's America, there really are two Americas.

On November 4th, 2008, I voted for McCain. Then I went down to Grant Park.
My sister suggested that I should go down there and record history.

At first, I balked at the idea. I didn't want to add to the spectacle. I didn't want to be another camera down there recording the coronation of Barack. But then I started looking at it another way:
20 years from now (provided I'm still alive) I'm going to be asked by a younger generation how it was that so many people became obsessed with a presidential candidate.

By then, the shiny sheen of celebrity will come off of Obama. It happens with all public figures that are worshiped. JFK was the one exception, and only because he was assassinated before he could fall from grace.
We have little film from leaders who were truly worshiped, and even less film of the people who worshiped them. I went down to Grant Park with the intention of interviewing those people who loved Barack. I wanted to get their actual opinions down on video. I fully admit, I wanted to embarrass them with their lack of substantial answers.

There was only one problem. It was dark by the time I got there. So much for interviews.

That didn't stop me from taking some photos and making this cogent observation at the entrance to Grant Park.
Below is a video that I took. The images themselves are not as important as what you'll hear.



This is where the Barack faithful were sorted.
You see, Barack's campaign staff had Grant Park divided into two Americas: the ones with tickets, and the ones without.
This is far different from the 'one America' that Barack had talked about.

In this photo, I'm on the side of the have-nots. I didn't have the golden ticket to see Barack.
In the future, you can think of this as being a 'red-stater'.

I kinda felt this was symbolic, and ironic.
Obama went to Berlin to give his speech near the famous wall that was taken down, the one that divided Berlin for such a long time.
-And here his campaign had built their own little wall; One to divide grant park into two distinct social groups.

First, there was a line of wooden police horses. Then the security guys. And if you got past them, you still had to make it over the fence. Unless you had a ticket. The people that you can barely see on the street in the background had tickets.

I know what you're thinking: "But wait... they couldn't fit everyone into one place to watch the speech. There simply wasn't enough resources to accommodate everybody. They had to divide it into a ticketed area, and non-ticketed area."

Which is the point.
Stick with me for a moment.
The promise of Universal Health Care is that everyone should be able to have the same health care. Right? No matter what your problem, you'll still be covered. Right?

Don't get me wrong. As an older guy, I find that a tempting con to buy into. Except... its just not possible.

We just don't have the resources to give everyone everything. We never will.

It doesn't matter if you're talking about sports cars, or yachts, or health care without limits, or a rally in Grant Park: there is a finite amount of resources that you have to draw from.

So that was my first observation of the night: watching the two Americas in progress and marveling that the Democrats didn't seem to mind at all.

Particularly when these cats were stalking the event.
Now I need to start by giving the Democrats who were at Grant Park a lot of credit. The vast majority of dems either walked straight past these guys and went to the video screen in the background, or politely took their flyers and nodded. Like you should to any aging hippies who are spouting 40 year old stale communist rhetoric.

But here's the point: these guys thought that Obama was the first step to a better socialist tomorrow. Its the kind of thing that should make Democrats go "Errr... wait. You think we're forwarding your cause by electing Obama?"

I'm going to do these guys a 'favor' by linking to their website and quoting them voraciously. Keep in mind, these guys think that Obama is headed in their direction, but that he doesn't go far enough.

You couldn’t miss it on Election Night. People actually pouring into the streets to celebrate the election of a president. Emotions ran high, and tears flowed.

And in the days after: people talking to friends and strangers alike of hope. Hope for a coming era of change from the horrors of the Bush years. Hope for overcoming racism. Hope for a new era of service to the common good.

Hope—hope that is founded on the real possibilities for fundamental change in this world—is indeed precious. Dedicating your life to something higher than the ethic of “I-want-mine” is so vital that the future of humanity actually depends on it. And overcoming—truly overcoming—the divisions of society based on inequality and oppression must be at the heart of any real movement for social change.

Note the important part of the second paragraph, above: "Hope for a new era of service to the common good." Like the "America Serves" program that Barack proposed, where each high school student is required to do 50 hours of 'mandatory voluntary' work.

Change.
To a socialist state that you can believe in.
To two Americas, divided into those who have the ration tickets, and those who don't. Please empty all of your valuables out of your pocket. Only those who have acceptable items will be allowed into the park.
Enjoy the new freedom.