SpiralTruth

I’m pretty sure everyone’s going to be talking about Tuesday night for a while. The first African American president. Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey not even trying to fight back tears. John McCain making his best speech in years. He may have bought into the tactics of George Bush and his goons when they were proven effective in robbing him of the Republican nomination the first time around, but he was at least a very gracious loser. Hats off to you tonight, Senator McCain.

For some strange reason, I’m feverishly anticipating whatever Sarah Palin is going to say in regards to her defeat. We know it will be something stupid – and we’re now free to laugh about it without that heavy feeling of doom, as she will not be anywhere near the nuclear launch codes for at least another four years. By then it will be 2012, and if you believe the Mayans or Terence McKenna‘s wonderfully comical, acid and I Ching fueled “novelty theory” predictions, the last thing we’ll be worried about is Larry Flynt’s new Alaskan muse.

But here’s the thing I’m really excited about: Obama’s win was secured by the Internet and a surge of young voters. I’m 28 and have been able to vote in Canada now for 10 years. Watching Obama win in the United States is the first signal that I’ve seen, since I was given the power to help shape my country’s destiny at the ballot box, that power is finally being wrestled from the powerful grip of a bunch of old men who’ve been trying to hold on to it for too long, who’ve been trying to make themselves a legacy with our blood in a world they no longer understand. History being what it is, I’m sure we’ll eventually become those old men (and women) desperately holding back another tide of youth that is ready to lead. But let’s not think about that for a while. Instead, let’s rejoice in Obama’s victory and the victory of the American people – and realize that it was also a victory for the many hopeful, creative, and (as Tuesday night forcefully proved) capable young people around the world.

The line in the sand has been drawn, and the message has been sent: we’ll figure out a solution to all of the problems you’ve left us with, if you’ll just get out of our way. There’s reason to celebrate, though I imagine we’ll all soon be feeling a bit of that heavy burden of responsibility President Obama must be feeling. Just remember… we wanted this. And if we ever start wondering whether it was worth the fight, well… just remember the alternative: