A New Day...

I have refrained from posting about the US election on my blog because I felt like once I started it might be difficult to stop. I have been following the candidates and the election very closely and despite its length, never really tired of it. I guess it was because there was just so much at stake. No matter what happened or who was elected, this was never going to be just another presidential election. There was a vibe, a general sense of breath holding, that guaranteed that America would be fundamentally affected or even changed by what happened on November 4th.

I am so happy that Obama won. I watched his victory speech this morning and cried. I watched Americans in the streets and at the rallies and I felt connected to them for the first time in a long time. The speech was incredible and moving and full of promise. I felt hopeful for the future of the US and I have to say, I haven't felt that way for a long time either.

I was never anti-McCain. I think as far as Republican candidates go he wasn't that bad. Any support he may have had from me went out the window when he chose Palin however. Having said that - I like her. If I got stranded in Alaska I would love to have a beer with her. Hang out, shoot the shit. But I do not think she would be a good vice-president. Hell, I'm surprised she's even a Governor. McCain represented the status quo. Not necessarily in that he would be an extension of the Bush regime but that he was an old white guy with old white guy ideas. America has been going in the wrong direction for quite a long time and it needs someone with a radical sense of purpose and a strong moral compass. Obama will get shit done.

While it is not a good reason to vote for him, you cannot ignore the deep psychological impact Obama's victory will have on the African American population. When I think of the struggles the blacks have endured over the last two hundred years in the States and the crippling effect of slavery and racism I cannot even begin to imagine the renewed sense of emancipation this must have. How strong and free and hopeful they must feel. It really does feel like a new day - a new opportunity to set things right.

I have heard the term "the Canadianization of America" a few times now in reference to Obama (I'm sure this term is not being bandied about south of the border) and I suppose in some ways it is true. Obama's approach to taxes, energy and health care are all very Canadian in style. I guess after watching the most recent economic crisis from a comparably stable market (made so partly by government regulation and restrictions) I can't help but feel like that might not be a bad thing. Canadians would have voted for Obama overwhelmingly - a statistic which is also true for most of the world. The only polled countries who would have elected McCain were Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Republic of Georgia. In fact, the only country where it was even close was the United States. What does it say that the rest of the world is celebrating today along with America? People in London, Paris, Asia, Africa, Canada, India and South America are celebrating. I can't help but feel like America fell behind over the last few years. That the rest of the world moved forward and grew and is now cheering the US on as it stands up, brushes itself off and reclaims its position as leader, enforcer of freedom, civil rights and equality. The world wants the US to be great again.

I will admit that it may not be his policies that got Obama elected (though I personally don't take issue with any of them really). Maybe it is a backlash against Bush, maybe it's the hype or the possibility of change. But to me, it doesn't really matter. This is a new day and a new leader with a strong vision. After years of scare tactics, fear mongering and heavy, pervasive ignorance, some hope might be just what the United States, and the rest of the world, needs.

Parallel Universe?

We went to Montana last weekend to visit our nieces and do some cross-border shopping (read: bought Kalispell's entire stock of gdiaper liners) and had a nice visit. That area of Montana is very pretty and rugged and so completely different from Alberta that it's weird. I mean, they are only separated by a barely-patrolled border and very little distance and yet it's like an alternate universe down there. I don't know quite what it is but it feels different. The buildings are different and the streets are different and the radio stations are WAY different.

America is a weird and wonderful country. I have spent a fair amount of time there in many different states (18 at last count!) and of course, Brian has lived there for years at different points in his life. And between the two of us we still struggle to understand the place. It annoys him that he doesn't have a better grasp of who and what the country is and it perplexes us to the point of frustration. We know so many Americans who have similar political/religious views as us and who are like any other Canadians or Europeans we might know. But the country, the way it thinks, votes, prays and behaves does not seem to reflect the people we know. Who are those people who put bumper stickers of the ten commandments on their truck? Who believe that American soldiers are being killed by Iranians and that it sounds like a good idea to build a fence between the US and Mexico? Who still think Saddam had something to do with 9-11? Who are the people who watch and worse yet, believe, Fox news? Who think abstinence is the only sexual education that should be taught in schools and who know so little about the world outside of America? I have wanted to dismiss these people in the past as a fringe group, as right-wing nuts, but they are not easily dismissed. Based on the last two elections I can only assume they make up the majority.

Brian and I spend a lot of our time wondering about these things, especially when we are visiting our neighbours to the south. American policies and attitudes often reveal a shocking ignorance of the world outside of its borders. Many really buy into the idea that America has much to teach other countries and nothing to learn. They believe that America is democratic and righteous and envied by the rest of the world. We've considered the education system as a possible culprit but we know too many smart and well-educated people from the States. America produces some of the sharpest minds in the world and has contributed positively to our social and technical advancement is so many ways. Is it its Puritan beginnings or lack of independent media? I haven't a clue. So, if anyone can shed some light on this issue I would be grateful.

Sicko

Last night Brian and I went to see Sicko, Michael Moore's new movie. Now, as much as I agree with Moore's political leanings, I am not really his biggest fan in a theatrical sense. I think if he could tone it down just a tad and make less obviously leftist statements like calling Hillary Clinton "smart, sassy and sexy" he'd have a larger influence on his audience and probably on his country. That having been said, I am always very impressed with the amount of research that goes into his films. He must go through thousands of hours of tape to find just the right moment on C-Span when some congressman makes exactly the comment Moore needs to sew up his case. It's got to be pretty boring work.

Sicko didn't teach me anything about the state of American health care...I already knew it was pretty bad. Most Canadians, no matter from which end of the spectrum they adhere, will usually defend socialized medicine to the hilt. We are very attached to our health care system, despite all the complaining we do about it. I did learn a lot about European health care though and seeing how Europe and even Cuba do things made America's approach seems even more backwards and regressive. I have spoken with many friends from the States who have had bad experiences with health care and I've noticed that often, they don't even know that they're bad experiences. It's just life. Not being able to afford to have a baby? Like, literally not being able to afford to pay the hospital to keep you while you give birth? Not normal. Not good health care. Having to beg and plead and write a million and one documents to get insurance coverage for your obviously injured back? Not good health care. It's frustrating to me that Americans don't demand more. The country was built on forward-thinking, (for the most part) revolutionary ideas and it seems to have come to a grinding halt as of late. A French woman in the movie last night made a comment that I found very interesting and insightful, "In France, the government is afraid of the people, in America, the people are afraid of the government." How did things get that way? In America, the government and the people are supposed to be one in the same. Instead you have huge multi-nationals and lobby groups essentially dictating to the masses, and they don't even know it! It's beyond frustrating, it's sad.

I hope a lot of people see this movie and that it makes them think. Not that France, or Canada have it all figured out but that there is a better way, a way to make sure that everyone has equal access to health care and that the people who will benefit will be them, instead of the government. Does it come down to a fundamental disagreement about whose job it is to take care of the less fortunate? Americans are generous and kind...how they can they also leave their most vulnerable without basic necessities?

I'm glad Michael Moore is making the movies he does. I just wish the people who were watching them were the people who need to, rather than those who already know there's a problem.

Bad Bad Blogger...

Vacation to the Okanagan wasn't all I had hoped it would be. Of course I loved spending time with Bri (which after all, was the point of the trip) but I made the fatal mistake of trying to recapture childhood memories. The waterslides in Penticton aren't really cool...they're scary looking. And Ogo Pogo isn't a giant dragon you can climb all over - he's a plastic toy about 4 feet tall. We had planned on stopping by Flinstone Park because really, who didn't love that as a child? It doesn't exist anymore. I kept telling Brian that all I wanted to do was jump in the lake as soon as we arrived. So, after coughing up $40 for a campsite (which doubled our trip budget on the spot) we ran into the water. As we stood there in the chest-deep lake we looked at each other and I realized, with painful clarity that the water was wet and cold and that I am nearly 30.

We stayed in Kelowna for a few days and actually has a pretty good time. We went on a great tour of the Mission Hill vineyards and winery and played mini-golf. We headed to Osoyoos for three days but ended up bailing a few hours after we arrived. The campsite we were booked into was essentially a squatter's camp and Osoyoos (my apologies to anyone who is from there) is weird. It was creepy and like much of the Okanagan had a disproportionate number of trailer parks. The entire region looked to me as though a lot of people had moved there with a dream and then run out of money before they could put siding on their home or tow the truck to the local garage. And that's where they've stayed...along with their truck.

We headed into the States (Washington, across Idaho and into Montana) which of course was an adventure. I got to listen to my fill of Jesus radio, which for some reason I absolutely love. My favourite quote? "If God is your co-pilot, you better believe that it's time to swap seats!" Pure gold. We ate at a Denny's where I was forced to order from the Senior's Menu because all the stuff from the regular menu came with a bucket of hashbrowns and your weight in pancakes. And if you ordered pancakes? Yup, they came with a side of pancakes.

So, in ten days we managed to cover two provinces, three states, every political and current event worth discussing, a few arguments, some great bumper stickers ("Orgasm Donor")and a few hours of tax-free shopping in the great state of Montana We also learned many lessons for our next trip - mainly that next time we should take our ten day budget and use it over three days.