Back in 2004 we here in Oregon were all voting in our mail in ballots like crazy for Senator John Kerry, hoping beyond hope that we would get President Bush OUT OF OFFICE so we could proceed with our normal happy lives...
...And then the horribleness hit on November 4th, 5th. I remember being in the car with my husband on November 5th and suddenly breaking into tears, crying and crying because I couldn't believe our country was so dumb as to vote that horrible man back into office. What were people thinking?
And as I sadly surfed that week I came across this website...
Sorry Everybody
And I remember it making me feel better, knowing that so many people felt the way that I did, knowing that so many people out there in the world knew that people like me existed, and that we would try and stand up, we wouldn't give up, we wouldn't move to Canada, we would just try harder next time.
So today I am at my desk, thinking about the last four years, surfing again and somehow I came across this site again while listening to will.i.am and the "Yes, We Can" song. I started looking through the old pictures, imagining that someone would put together something similar yet oppositional, like "Go Us" or something like that. (I'm not very imaginative, but I think it would be a cool website...)
So I'm idly hitting the random button when suddenly I see a picture of foreshadowing!
Message From Chi-Town
I sat there and stared at the picture, thinking about the first time I saw Barack Obama speak at the 2004 convention and remembering my feelings of grief and sadness and embarrasment at having re-elected Bush again in 2004. I remember being so mad at Kerry for not fighting for Ohio when he promised he would. I remember feeling horrible for Howard Dean and thinking well, if he had only gotten the nomination we would have had a fighter! (Little did we know he was prepping up, like John the Baptist, putting a way forward for an Obama to come in and win on a 50 state strategy.)
All the grief and sadness and heartache and miserableness was worth it, just to have Barack Obama as President.