I spent the past eight years feeling alienated from politics because I didn’t agree with President Bush’s policies and there was little to nothing I could do change that. I usually assumed the worst from the White House, and I spent those years anxious for a new term, worried that our credibility in the world might not last that long.
But now that Senator Obama has been elected as our next president, I look back at these years in a different light. It wasn’t the torture I had made it out to be.
Today on National Public Radio I heard a reference to one of comedian Chris Rock’s jokes from earlier this year about Bush making it possible for an African American to be elected president.
“He’s made it hard for a white man to run for president. People are saying, ‘After Bush, I’m not sure we can take another chance on a white guy,” says Rock as quoted by Adam Howard on the AlterNet blog.
I laughed at first when I heard about this on the radio, then thought about it some more, seeing what he was getting at. The strongest point Obama made to get my vote was that he was not in agreement with Bush policies 90% of the time.
But jokes aside, I believe Bush was a huge trigger for many Americans; he gave us a reason to demand the change Obama so represents.
The world is a different place because of this historical election. That someone of a racial minority was elected president of the United States is a loud statement that cannot be ignored—a true testament to how much can change in one 106-year old person’s lifetime as Obama put it in his speech last night—and I’m looking forward to see the ripple effects shift social relations across the globe. I see this opportunity as a blessing partly gifted by Bush, and suddenly I don’t despise the last eight years in the way I could before last night.
Bush has also spurred strong reactions from those who don’t sit well with waging a war based on fabricated pretenses, which I’ll describe as another blessing in a moment. I’m sure you are familiar with the conspiracy theories roaming wild on the net; if you haven’t read them extensively, you have probably at least heard of them. I’m not saying they are true (you need to do the research and sort for yourself what is credible and what is not), but I do think that the Bush administration has fueled many people, from those just following up on what the government says it’s doing and what it’s actually doing to those actively looking for conspiracy and secret societal underpinnings in our current global affairs.
And in my opinion, that’s a healthy thing for Americans, to be pushed to choose discernment and research over conceding to the consensus reality and euphemistic tactics all in the name of “patriotism.” We are a more discerning people now because of Bush, and we have a more watchful eye on Washington. Even the media is evolving, as more and more “alternative” news sources are staking their claims in cyberspace (see Project Censored for an example) and reaching more Americans unwilling to go into denial about the darker sides of our great country of freedom and democracy. I see all this as a blessing to the world, and I see Bush as an integral part of it.
When I look back on these past years, it is clear to me that denial is very delicate matter. We have in many ways denied the dysfunctions in our nation over the years, but the Bush administration was perhaps that final trigger causing many of us to think again—to think for ourselves. To remember that the government is for the people and by the people.
As the media, the country, and the world is still grasping the magnitude of what happened last night and who will soon take the highest office of the United States of America, I’m taking this moment to count some blessings from our current and soon to be former president. He has endured some heavy criticism, ridicule, and disrespect over the years, and I don’t want to contribute to any of that any longer. I want to remember his legacy to the nation, which is only beginning. I want to remember his lesson: that sometimes things need to get worse before they can get better and sometimes someone needs to show you how bad it can get before you can stand up and make a change.
