HISTORY

Normally I steer away from the heavy stuff like politics, religion, and other societal issues, but the event that happened last evening was too tremendous an occasion not to at least comment on.

First off, congratulations to President-Elect Obama and kudos to Senator McCain for a hard fought campaign and for conceding the election in one of the most heartfelt speeches I have ever heard. His grace in the face of defeat was nothing short of miraculous and speaks to the man's character in ways we can barely comprehend.

I, for one, look forward to the radical changes that the President-Elect will bring to a nation crying out for something different. If anything, last night's results showed how sick and tired of the Bush Administration this nation is and, almost as a whole, rose up to support the farthest thing from that, Barack Obama.

There were several things from last night that made me very hopeful for the future for the first time in a good while concerning our government and my generation's impact on this nation. There were also a few things that make me worry for the status of our pop culture, which is not nearly as important, but since my job revolves around it, I want to talk about it. In terms of our government, I do not need to pretend I'm some pundit or someone who remotely knows what they are talking about to know that the change coming in the next couple of years is necessary and am happy to see that, for the most part, the nation is united for the first time in eight years behind one man.

In terms of history, we have finally completely eroded a wall that had been there, but never talked about, about the limits of a man based on the color of his skin. There will always be hate all over the world, but this was a major step in the direction of quelling that hate and kicking it to the shadows permanently. This is monumental for the minority population, those with more impoverished backgrounds, and those without hope. This election was a symbol of progress for our great nation in a spectacular direction towards healing the wounds we've inflicted upon ourselves in the past eight years.

There were several minor things about last night though that really bothered me.

First: Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi all voted for McCain even after they had two hurricanes dropped on their heads that almost turned that part of the south into our country's next great water park and got NOTHING from the current administration until it was too late. This happened to be the same administration that McCain voted with 90% of the time. This is why people from these states are considered some of the stupidest in the nation by those of us above the Mason-Dixon Line since logic would dictate that when bad stuff happens, and the people who are supposed to help in your time of need don't, you should no longer trust them to help you next time.

Second: The Daily Show/Colbert Report one hour live special was the first station to break Virginia going to Obama. That's right. Comedy Central broke one of the biggest political stories of the night to that point. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were also the second to announce Obama as the President-Elect after CNN. Then older folks wonder why my generation turns to Comedy Central for our news before anywhere else. We get our news faster and with a funny twist without having to listen to the same whining from these pundits on the other networks. Kudos to Comedy Central.

Third: Sticking with the Daily Show/Colbert Report, what are these shows going to make fun of now? They have their work cut out for them. I'm sure something will happen though that will keep feeding the fodder for comedy writers everywhere. There's always professional sports. Not just comedians though will be affected in the media, but all the right wingers with radio and TV shows. Will they be muzzled now that the democrats have control over the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House? I'm relatively sure much of the brass in the larger networks has connections to Washington. I wonder if Sean Hannity can say "Would you like fries with that?"

Fourth: The election was summed up in a handful of television shots during McCain's concession speech and Obama's victory speech. When showing the disappointed McCain supporters, you saw nothing but old, white people in the crowd. There was not a single person of color or under the age of 40 there. When you saw the celebrating Obama supporters, you saw the potential of this great land of ours. People of all ages, colors, and creeds dancing and celebrating and jumping up and down with each other. Those few shots summarized the past two years of campaigning in about two minutes and explained the results more eloquently than any speech could.

Fifth: Did anyone else notice before Barack Obama came out to give his victory speech, they were playing Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher"? They were in Chicago and Bill Murray is from Chicago. Bill Murray was also in Ghostbusters 2, which any true geek will remember as that same song being the song that allowed the Ghostbusters to bring the Statue of Liberty to life to give them entry to Vigo's Slime Fortress (previously the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Did Bill Murray help Obama at all in Chicago? Or maybe Obama is just a Ghostbusters fan? No wonder why people love this guy!

Then again I could just be having a geek moment and it will pass.

In conclusion, be optimistic America. Things are going to start turning around.

I hope.

-Ray Carsillo