(no subject)

[callistahogan]

I probably shouldn't be writing this, because I have to memorize the lines for my English final tomorrow, but this is such a major historical event that I can't go without writing a post on this today.

I can't believe we have a new president.

President Barack Obama.

I wasn't originally a fan of Barack Obama, and I'm not sure if I even am now, but I will support him for these four years or perhaps eight if he decides to take on a second term (and I would be surprised if he didn't). He is our president and he deserves—no, needs—our respect and support in the face of all the difficulties ahead of us. He can't do it alone.

This is a bittersweet day for me, full of apprehensions and mingled joy, excitement and an all too infectious hope for change. I am not sure how Obama will fill the expectations we have for him, but he will do a good job as president.

That I am sure of.

He will make mistakes (as he just said in his speech at the inaugural lunch), but we will meet the challenges ahead of us. Like he said in his inaugural speech, we might not meet them now. We might not even reach them in a year or two, but the fact remains that we will meet them. Eventually. And we are all in this together.

That is a fact we all have to realize.

In this state of panic and worry, we can't afford to make swipes at Obama's choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation, or become outraged about Rick Warren in general. In this state of worry and financial downturn, we can't afford to attack Obama for his views.

In this moment, we have to turn to each other to get us past this crisis. We need to help each other look toward the future.

The whole battle between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats? The attacks directed toward Rick Warren, the name-calling ("hate monger")? The racism still in today's society? I'm not naive enough to think these things will end, and I'm not denying they bother me and I am tempted to give my "opponents" a piece of my mind. However, I am willing, as I've said before, to reach across the aisle and extend a hand of friendship and peace to those who oppose my opinions.

As I've been reading lately in the big racism/writing the Other debacle, we are all people. We might not all be the same, but we are all people, with the same innate emotions inside us. We cry, we laugh, we love, we live, we bleed, we die. We can find something to love and admire in anyone around us.

I recently found out that I agree with mercuryblue144 in how we should deal with the gay marriage battle. I never thought we could agree on anything, and that revelation really made me realize that there's no need, no need at all, to ostracize or disrespect people for mere opinions. Because who knows? You might actually agree with them about something.

But I digress.

So, I take my place behind President Barack Obama (even I can't get over how great that name looks), even though we may be opposed in some things. I move to connect with conservatives, liberals, Christians, atheists, Republicans, Democrats, and, oh, anyone I come across. I hope everyone on my friends list will join me.

Because, hey, we really are all people! :)

Comments

[kittyc1978.livejournal.com]

I didn't think rrick warren was an awesome choice either. I just don't buy him as representing me as a christian

[callistahogan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess, but I don't think the outright hatred of him going around LJ when it was first announced (and even now) was called for. Personally, I found his prayer powerful and well-said, wonderfully nondenominational, and very supportive of Obama. And the whole "hate monger" thing gets thrown around a lot, which is uncalled for, IMO.

[wheatear.livejournal.com]

Very eloquent. *applauds*

[callistahogan.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks. *blushes* I guess Obama's wonderful mastery of words is getting to me. And Shakespeare too.

[angakkuq-01.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who's at least slightly galled that the Dems and their supporters on the left get to spend eight years tearing their opponents down, then expect us to all be one big happy family now that one of theirs is running the show?
It's highly tempting to pay them back insult for insult, slander for slander.
Didn't say I was gonna do it, just that it's highly tempting.

[callistahogan.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly galled too, but the need to unite right now in face of these crises strikes me as more important than the desire to "get back" at Democrats, IMO.

[angakkuq-01.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Again, I didn't say I was going to.

[alexseanchai]

Rick Warren is of the opinion that people unwilling to behave in a strictly heterosexual manner have any right to legal marriage, as demonstrated by his position on Prop 8. That being the big thing he'd been in the news for before we heard he'd be playing a big role in the inauguration ceremony, and in absence of any mitigating factor, yes, I think we are justified in being annoyed at Obama for choosing him.

Delighted to have educated you. Now if only certain other people who have apparently returned to LJ could get the hint as well, as well as the corollary that one can disagree with an opinion without disrespecting it and one can disrespect an opinion without disrespecting the holder of the opinion.

I suppose there's no point in explaining to that individual that it's not the liberals who have been saying "I think a baseball bat is the most effective way [to talk to conservatives] these days" or "When contemplating college [conservatives], you really regret once again that [a particular conservative] is not getting the death penalty" or "There are a lot of bad [Democrats]; there are no good [Republicans]". That was Ann Coulter. (Source.) I have heard equivalents to other of her crazy statements, but not from anyone who consistently makes the NYT bestseller list.

[callistahogan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was aware of the issues surrrounding Rick Warren, and I understand why people are upset Obama chose him. I just think we shouldn't be bashing him, calling him a "hate monger," and refuse to listen to a word he says. Because he does have some nice things to say, as his invocation showed, in my eyes.

As for "educating me"... you didn't do that. I've been thinking about this for a while, and the outright bashing of people whose opinions differ from theirs just makes me sick, and I don't want to be a part of it. There's something good to be found in anyone. We just have to see it.

And I very much wish that Ann Coulter was not used as the face of conservative Republicans... *sigh*

[alexseanchai]

Mostly what the invocation said was that he'd like to be inclusive but can't quite get it through his head that Jesus is of limited importance to Muslims and none at all to Jews, or that anybody with a nonAbrahamic religion exists.

And I didn't mean to say that Coulter is the "face of conservative Republicans", but she's certainly a very loud voice among them, and I know of no equally loud voices among liberal Democrats period (with the possible exception of Obama), so if either side can fairly be said to have spent the past eight years being insulting and slanderous, it's...not the liberal Democrats. Unless "torture is wrong", "torture is a war crime as defined by the Geneva Conventions", and "Bush has permitted and/or ordered committed torture and is therefore a war criminal" count as insults and slander, in which case the conservative Republicans are free to insult and slander Obama and liberal Democrats to their heart's content provided they can find as much factual basis for the insults and slanders as there is for the insult and slander that Bush is a war criminal.

[callistahogan.livejournal.com]

I know that's not what you're saying. I just think that other people, not necessarily you, think immediately of Ann Coulter and other peeople like her whenever they hear "conservative Republican," and I have personally met many kind and wonderful people that would represent conservatism much better than Ann Coulter's "in your face" strategy would.

And I think that there is an equal amount of slander going around from both Democratic and Republican sides. Maybe some are more public than others, but I know that I have seen a lot of slander and ridicule of both Bush and Obama since I joined LJ... oh, ten months ago? Both sides have insults/slanders to apologize for.

(See, this is why I can't think of myself as either a Republican or a Democrat: I keep trying to make peace with everyone and come to a compromise! :) And I think of myself more as an Independent now...)