But unable as I am to stop reading, I find myself also unable to panic. I am surrounded by pundits, talking heads, bloggers and diarists ranting and raving about this or that. Eric Holder made Clinton pardon Mark Rich. Hillary Clinton said nasty things about Obama during the primaries. Janet Napolitano would be able to beat McCain for his Senate seat. OMG!%!%#!
Here's the thing: we voted for Obama because he's smart, he's well read, he's well spoken. He's unflappable. He's a grown-up who has had some of the problems we are facing today. For me personally, he has kids the same ages as my own. He was brought up as a mixed-race child by white grandparents from Kansas and has by necessity not lived in only one cultural milieu. He has lived in other countries. He speaks well off the cuff and can do more than one thing at a time. He is smarter than me.
We did not elect him because he's perfect or a miracle worker or the second coming. We did not believe he could right all the wrongs or fix all the problems with the snap of his fingers. We knew that he was not as progressive as some of us are. We knew that his healthcare plan included the insurance companies in the mix.
So why now must we expect him to be what we did not expect before?
What I believe now, and will continue to believe until he proves otherwise, is that Barack Obama is a smart guy with more information than I have and really, really knowledgeable people around him. What I believe now is that he will do his best work every day and not take over 400 days of vacation in 8 years. What I believe now is that (you remember this, right?) We Are the Change We've Been Waiting For. And we must continue to work and help and volunteer and be loud and express our opinions and even march if we have to.
What I believe now is that finally, after so long in despair, we can have hope. Don't squander it in petty worries about this and that appointment. Revel in it. Let it fill you up. Let it color your thoughts with optimism. Why not? What harm does it do?
If he's smarter than I am, he knows better than I whom to choose.