We got there
I just didn't believe it could happen--this,
our new First Family.
I'd been calculating and recalculating the electoral votes since the beginning of October--you know, switching a NH for a CO, a Michigan for a Pennsylvania, etc., etc.,--and maybe by Monday, I'd arrived at a glimmer of hope: perhaps he could pull off 280 electoral votes. (Please, please.) But after the election of Bush for a second term--after it had turned out the President had lied about WMDs (not that even the lie was reason to invade) and Abu Ghraib had been exposed--I lost all faith.
And I thought the country was too racist to elect a black man.
God, what a joy to be found out wrong.
And did you notice, in Obama's victory speech, how he invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s Moses on the Mountain speech, his last speech, as if Obama understood he was going to carry on from where King left off?
Here's King:
And here's Obama:
Choked me up.
Finally.
[Here's a video recording of the last minute of King's prophetic speech. And here's Obama's echo and tribute, in the first 30 seconds, here.]
our new First Family. I'd been calculating and recalculating the electoral votes since the beginning of October--you know, switching a NH for a CO, a Michigan for a Pennsylvania, etc., etc.,--and maybe by Monday, I'd arrived at a glimmer of hope: perhaps he could pull off 280 electoral votes. (Please, please.) But after the election of Bush for a second term--after it had turned out the President had lied about WMDs (not that even the lie was reason to invade) and Abu Ghraib had been exposed--I lost all faith.
And I thought the country was too racist to elect a black man.
God, what a joy to be found out wrong.
And did you notice, in Obama's victory speech, how he invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s Moses on the Mountain speech, his last speech, as if Obama understood he was going to carry on from where King left off?
Here's King:
We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
And here's Obama:
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America--I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you--we as a people will get there.
Choked me up.
Finally.
[Here's a video recording of the last minute of King's prophetic speech. And here's Obama's echo and tribute, in the first 30 seconds, here.]
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About Last Night
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
Artful Manager
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Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture
blog riley
rock culture approximately
rock culture approximately
critical difference
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Laura Collins-Hughes on arts, culture and coverage
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Richard Kessler on arts education
diacritical
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Douglas McLennan's blog
Dog Days
Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
Flyover
Art from the American Outback
Art from the American Outback
lies like truth
Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
Life's a Pitch
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
Mind the Gap
No genre is the new genre
No genre is the new genre
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David Jays on theatre and dance
David Jays on theatre and dance
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Paul Levy measures the Angles
Paul Levy measures the Angles
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Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture
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John Rockwell on the arts
John Rockwell on the arts
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innovations and impediments in not-for-profit arts
innovations and impediments in not-for-profit arts
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Jan Herman - arts, media & culture with 'tude
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Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
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Tobi Tobias on dance et al...
Tobi Tobias on dance et al...
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Jazz Beyond Jazz
Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
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Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and Other Sounds
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Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
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Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology
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Martha Bayles on Film...
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Fresh ideas on building arts communities
Fresh ideas on building arts communities
The Future of Classical Music?
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
Overflow
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
PianoMorphosis
Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
PostClassic
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Sandow
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Slipped Disc
Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
The Unanswered Question
Joe Horowitz on music
Joe Horowitz on music
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Jerome Weeks on Books
Jerome Weeks on Books
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Scott McLemee on books, ideas & trash-culture ephemera
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Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
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Public Art, Public Space
Public Art, Public Space
Another Bouncing Ball
Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
Artopia
John Perreault's art diary
John Perreault's art diary
CultureGrrl
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary

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