Make You Cry
Nov62008
I’m still crying pretty much every morning. It could be the pneumonia talking, but I’m feeling pretty good, so I’m going with Obama and hope and a new day. But I hate crying alone so look at the political cartoons:
There’s more on Slate.com. It’s always amazed me how a political cartoon can capture in an instant what a column or TV editorial will miss in five minutes. And boy, can you tell the spirit of some of those papers; it takes a paper with a heart of stone (or worse, but I’m feeling charitable today) to look at this election and not see it as a great step in American history even if it’s not the politics it ordered up at the polls. But forget them and look at the papers that got it right.
I feel like I got my country back.
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37 Comments to 'Make You Cry'
On November 6, 2008 at 10:49 am gin said...
And here I thought I’d finished crying.
But it’s a good crying.
On November 6, 2008 at 10:56 am Barbara said...
Everything’s individual but if you’re not feeling depressed then the crying jags may just be a way of your body working out not just the pneumonia and antibiotics but also some emotions and physical stuff you’re not even conscious of…one summer I cried off and on for two weeks and never did figure out a cause. I sure wasn’t depressed. I was a full-time teacher at the time and LOVED having some time off. But writing on top of that schedule sure wore me out and you’ve been pushing a lot with your work…
Regarding the crying being a possible link to the election, that’s possible. It’s been neat to watch the emotional reactions people are having to the election. I couldn’t sleep most of the night and felt a little enervated on Wednesday. Still sitting here thinking it’s pretty neat we got such a big change. Don’t know how depressed I’d have been if things had gone the other way with the election.
On November 6, 2008 at 11:23 am Naked Under my Clothes said...
We would have “won” either way–either candidate represented a return of an adult into the White House.
On November 4, 2004, I was sick with the flu, with long-term lingering consequences. I felt like crap. It was my birthday. I didn’t get what I most wanted–a new President. I can still remember the physical feeling of my emotional despair.
I don’t want to feel like that again–and I don’t want anyone else to feel like that, either.
What I suspect will be the hardest task ahead is ensuring that as many people as possible feel like Jenny: I got my country back. It helps that we all have work to do. But we have to work together. This red/blue, us/them, right/left stuff has GOT to go the way of the dodo.
On November 6, 2008 at 11:24 am Naked Under my Clothes said...
Except that it was November 2, 2004–election day. I got my birthday present two days late this year.
On November 6, 2008 at 11:38 am JulieB said...
This song had been running through my heart for a day and a half now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlxVwCbljZo
It takes longer than the cartoons, but man, I’m tearing up again listening to it.
I nominate this the theme song of the new era.
And I nominate Bono as just plain _hot_.
On November 6, 2008 at 11:48 am Bonnie C said...
The Presedential victory is bittersweet for me – I’m in California where the Stepford’s won thier cause to set us back 50 years.
Deep breaths…
But I am very excited to watch and see this transition. Ball’s in Obama’s court now; I’m anxious to see what he’ll do with it.
On November 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm lady t said...
It is a beautiful day! My DH cried through Obama’s speech. And a few days ago during our son’s Honor Society award presentation. Tonight’s the sports awards gathering and I’m bringing tissues. I’m not so good at tears but I’m working on it! I love people who can cry easily.
On November 6, 2008 at 12:10 pm k said...
Great big step forward for all of us. (as long as we’re straight. Please stop thinking you’re a citizen entitled to all rights and privileges if you’re gay. 5 millions voters in California, Arkansas and Florida would be happy to set you straight. Almost a pun if I weren’t so bitter.)
On November 6, 2008 at 12:11 pm Kate said...
I haven’t cried, but I too feel like I got my country back. Listening to Mr. Obama’s acceptance speech made my heart fill real big, like it would burst, and I found myself just smiling. Content. He reminded me that it’s okay to be an idealist, and that sometimes we can make a difference.
On another note, my mom and I were talking about the election, and where my response was cool, it’s a democrat–finally–, hers was to remember the civil rights marches and the struggles she saw on tv as a child, and she said she realized that they were fighting for something after all and she was proud to have voted for a man like him. (Not to be all partisan, but I’m more proud of her for voting not republican for the first time in like, 20 years; it’s hard for her, she was born and raised in Cincinnati.).
On November 6, 2008 at 12:29 pm Brooke said...
Sing it, sister. Me too.
Pneumonia? Really? Poor girl.
On November 6, 2008 at 1:45 pm Eva Gale said...
It’s a beautiful thing and I cry once a day at least.
On November 6, 2008 at 2:34 pm McB said...
It’s the after effect, like getting weak and shaky after an adrenalin rush. We’ve been angry and fearful for so long it’s gonna take some time for our emotions to stabilize.
On November 6, 2008 at 3:23 pm flip said...
I agree with you. I want to share with you an email that I received from my college buddy, Kenny Turner. I was very moved by it.
“Ok guys……forgive me for rambling but the events of last night were huge to me in so many ways. When I was at SIU, living at Wilson Hall, my mom called me to tell me that my Uncle Bud had passed away. He was 96 years old and was part of the first generation of my family to be born free. My mom’s family comes from Leflore County in Mississippi the town she grew up in is called Swift Town. You won’t find Swift Town on any maps because it is not an official town. It was the part of Greenwood where all the Blacks were made to live. Greenwood was a ‘sundown town’ and Black were not allowed in certain parts of the city after the sun went down. Anyway I remember when I was boy my Uncle Bud telling me a story of how he went to vote for the very first time. It was 1960 and he was voting for JFK. Back then in Mississippi Black people were made to pay a voting tax before they could cast their vote. The tax was $2 and it had taken my Uncle Bud almost a month to save the money. On election day he walks 20 miles to the polling place to vote only to be told that the tax had been raised to $3 dollars. So my uncle turns around and walks the 20 miles back home. In 1964 he walk the 20 miles to vote for LBJ. No voting tax this time but when he gets to the polling place they tell him he is supposed to vote in Itta Bena which another 20 miles down the road. So he turns around and heads back home. By the time 1968 rolls around Uncle Bud is completely deaf, he has a bad hip, and he needs a cane to get around. But he walks the 20 mile to vote and this time he is allowed to cast his vote for President of the United States. He then turns around an walks home like he had done when he tried to vote for JFK and LBJ. Last night while watching Barack Obama win the election I thought about my Uncle Bud and how he would have felt if had lived to see Obama speak last night. I thought about my Grandpa Jack who never voted a day in his life because when he was a young man in Arkansas Blacks risked the real possibility of harm and even death if they tried to vote. I wishing that they were all alive to see something that in their wildest dream they would have never believed possible. The first President of the United States my son Jack will remember will be Barack Obama. A man that has realized the dreams of an entire people.”
Kenneth L. Turner
On November 6, 2008 at 3:38 pm Yvonne Lindsay said...
Jenny, just let it out. The body has a way of doing what’s right for it at the time.
And on the dawn of new hope, may the hope spread. We have our national elections here tomorrow. Fingers crossed for change. And hope.
On November 6, 2008 at 3:52 pm Melissa Blue said...
Flip, I was finally fine again and then there you go with that e-mail. I don’t have to go back to my family tree to find the relatives who were born in slavery. (Great Grandparents)Neither do I have go back that far when members of my family couldn’t vote because they were black. My mother and father remember when their schools became intergrated. I never took my right to vote for granted, because I know many people gave their life just so I could.
And, now I’m really crying again.
On November 6, 2008 at 4:16 pm Alia said...
I didn’t sit up to watch returns on Tuesday night because the early calls on the elections and talking heads drive me nuts (I’m in the West). I heard it next morning and smiled. I was fine, happy, but calm. Then, I came home Wed evening and watched the Oprah I had taped. Blubbered my way through that. Then, watched the news, blubbered my way through that. The rest of the evening I’d be watching series TV, think about what happened and start again.
I’m okay today but know when I talk to my son (he campaigned for Barack in his state) that I’ll start again. He was one of the volunteers spoken of when he wasn’t working in his medical residency).
On November 6, 2008 at 5:25 pm Barbara said...
About ten years ago I worked for about a year and a half at Bethune-Cookman College (now called Bethune-Cookman Univerity). It’s a college that was founded by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American woman who founded a school for children who couldn’t go to the then all-white schools. She bought land in an area no one wanted and the school grew and grew until it became a college, one of the historic African-American colleges. She became an advisor on civil rights to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, quite an accomplishment for someone with humble beginnings.
I was one of the very few white instructors and I had a chance to experience what it must feel like to be in a sea of white faces and be one of the few African-Americans in a place.
My favorite memoery? Sitting in the convocation and hearing a speaker tell the students that they had to excel, that they owed a debt to those who came before–that they stood on the shoulders of those who came before them.
I happen to believe we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and we should work hard to be everything we can be.
There are many reasons why those of us who voted for Obama did so and I don’t think color was the issue. We simply saw him as a man who deserves a chance to lead our country. But it is gratifying to see how excited and hopeful young African-American AND white students are at the college where I teach now.
On November 6, 2008 at 6:41 pm Jenny said...
Oh, I know I’m crying about the election. It’s just so wonderful.
I told Gaffney that I know we’re not out of the woods yet, but at least we’re not being chased by that moron with a chainsaw any more. Or at least we won’t be on Jan 20.
I did a post on Prop 8 because I’m so outraged about it, but I kept it a draft for two reasons. One, this is a legitimate triumph. No we didn’t make all the haters go away, but by God we made huge strides. The entire world celebrated last night. Even the people in the White House seemed genuinely happy and proud of the country and the election. It’s just a great great time to celebrate.
And then we’re gonna talk about Prop 8 and the other votes in AZ and Fl. At least the 18,000 couples who got married in CA get to stay married, they can’t be stripped of that right. Andrew Sullivan’s been doing very insightful blogging on this all along, so he’s a good place to go for info:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/those-married-i.html
THe good news is that Connecticut rejected an attempt to hold a special convention to stop gay marriage there. As of Nov 12, it’s legal. From what I’ve been able to gather, the No on Prop 8 ran a campaign as dumb as Obama’s was brilliant. That’ll change.
Everything’s going to change. Gotta love change.
On November 6, 2008 at 7:37 pm K.L. said...
It has been a turbulant week. The Obama victory was a sweet moment, but was overshadowed for me by my brother’s death the day before. And my grief was compounded by my disappointment over the prop 8 loss in California. I don’t live there, but am a strong advocate for GLBT rights. I hope and pray that the USA will eventually figure out that gay marriage does not threaten anybody. sigh
On November 6, 2008 at 9:42 pm robena grant said...
I’m with you K.L. and I’m so sorry to hear of your loss.
The crowds are protesting in Westwood re prop 8 as I write this. My big question is how could this happen here in California of all places? Half of the entertainment industry is gay, they have incredible support and they bring incredible wealth to the state. If they all decided to up and leave that would create a huge deficit. Hey, maybe they should.
Well, as someone in Palm Springs said tonight on the news, it’s also a heck of a lot closer this time than it was last time. Baby steps, I suppose. Maybe by next election people will get it right.
On November 6, 2008 at 10:34 pm Melissa Blue said...
People are saying it’s not discriminatory. I stop at that point arguing with them. So, I figure the only way to solve this problem is to vote NO ONE can get married.
I’m sure I can find something in the bible to support this. Then run ads saying it’ll be taught in schools. A teacher might take your child to a wedding. This sight will do irrevocable things to children. I want to protect marriage. That’s all I want to do. Have you seen what some straight couples have done with it? Britney Spears ring any bells for ya.
And when someone asks me why can’t people marry I’ll be sure to state it’s not discriminatory. I have nothing against married individuals. I have marriaged friends. See, I’m not prejudice.
On November 7, 2008 at 2:25 am Bridget said...
Jenny,
Another one. I cried when I saw this one and I cried when I tried to read it to friends.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_main.html?name=Toles&date=11052008&type=c
(If the link doesn’t work, it’s Tom Toles Washington Post Wednesday)
On November 7, 2008 at 9:08 am Rebecca said...
Here’s another one, from Mike Luckovich at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that I really liked:
http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/opinion/luckovichelection08/
On November 7, 2008 at 1:31 pm Diane (TT) said...
Well, it’s not a cartoon, it’s words, but I also identified with Judith Warner’s blog today.
It says what I’ve been feeling pretty well.
On November 7, 2008 at 1:31 pm Diane (TT) said...
Oh, but I loved your cartoons, and I hope that your health improves rapidly, whether you keep crying or not!
On November 7, 2008 at 4:20 pm colognegrrl said...
I just read Obama’s Victory Speech and I was deeply moved. I want to believe that he’s not only a great speaker but that he’ll be able to achieve those goals. There’s so much at stake at the moment which can only be solved in a common world-wide effort, and I hope that ‘Yes, we can’.
Then, superficial being that I am, I switched to other websites and was dumbfounded by this:
http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/2008/11/07/83587979.jpg
and I had to think of the amusement park theme and thought you’d like to see it.
Get well soon!
On November 7, 2008 at 4:22 pm colognegrrl said...
…coming to think of it, maybe it’s just Katy Perry’s way of celebration the Election.
On November 7, 2008 at 4:24 pm colognegrrl said...
celebrating, of course. All bad things come in threes.
On November 7, 2008 at 7:29 pm Stephanie said...
I voted for Obama, and granted this was my first time voting, I truly felt like my vote counted. Obama didn’t just win.. America did.
On November 8, 2008 at 1:16 pm Art Goddess in Dayton said...
YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I think that about covers it.
All of us with the crud need to grab our tissues and ride on this amazing wave of change!
On November 8, 2008 at 6:52 pm Diane L. said...
Several cartoonists apparently had the same idea but I liked this iteration:
http://www.denverpost.com/keefe/ci_10907150
On November 8, 2008 at 8:15 pm misspiggy don'twannabe said...
I heard a talk by Dan Walters who is the political writer for the Sacramento Bee and winds up on the editorial page of many CA newspapers. He said that Obama’s candidacy brought out blacks and Hispanics who normally don’t vote. Those groups voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8.
He said that the white vote was about 66% of the total; down from the 76% or more that it typically reaches.
On November 10, 2008 at 8:06 am Renee Somebody said...
Like Stephanie, this was the first election I have ever voted in. I was grateful that Indiana had early voting options, since I’m supposed to be on complete bedrest (I keep telling my doctor that it’s a bad time of year for that!) I feel very proud of my country, and amazed at my state going blue – I never really expected that. I was literally afraid to watch too much election coverage, partially because my parent (whom I now live with) were hardcore for McCain / Palin, and mom still thinks Palin is wonderful. I love her, and she’s not a stupid woman, and I just thank god every time I think of it that Obama won and I don’t have to see my rights as a woman assaulted by someone I have a hard time believing is not a caricature. I’ve cried several times, so happy and relieved that we have someone coming to office whom I believe to be a true statesman, someone who makes me want to believe in America. And I’l keep telling my nieces that Michelle Obama is a wonderful role model
On November 12, 2008 at 11:45 am Bonnie C said...
misspiggy is right; the sheer number of voters who turned out to support Obama also supported Prop 8. Here is a Wikipedia article that breaks down how the votes went: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_%282008%29
Pretty fascinbating reading. If you look at the state map, it’s not unlike the full country map with the “coasts” liberal and the “middle” conservative.
Depressing as all hell.
I’ve had to stop listening to new radio when my kids are in the car – they are learning new an interesting phrases. One of the favorite clips is a woman saying something to the effect of, “It isn’t a discrimination issue but a moral issue.”
Huh?
So because I don’t share your “morals” I obviously have none and need to be guided by you? Do you have a special drinking fountain for me, too?
And why the hell is marriage being taught in school AT ALL??? Inapporpriate much?
ARGH.
On November 14, 2008 at 12:27 am Jenny said...
Go read Nate Silver at 538.com on voter turnout and Prop 8. He ran the numbers and showed that Prop 8 would have passed by an even greater margin if the people who turned out for Obama had stayed home. Something like 62% of Obama voters voted against 8. The guy at the Bee started with a faulty premise and didn’t check the exit polls.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/prop-8-myths.html
Always go to Nate for the truth. The man is a god with a calculator.
On November 14, 2008 at 10:04 am RfP said...
I think the 538 analysis says the truth is a little of each. There *were* differences by race, but that alone was *not* enough to pass Prop 8; it doesn’t make sense to scapegoat a minority for a majority result.
At the same time, cutting across racial groups, it looks like new Obama voters voted more tolerantly on Prop 8 than did long-time voters. I’m glad Nate Silver pointed out the inter-generational vote gap:
At the end of the day, Prop 8′s passage was more a generational matter than a racial one. If nobody over the age of 65 had voted, Prop 8 would have failed by a point or two. It appears that the generational splits may be larger within minority communities than among whites, although the data on this is sketchy. …
the older voters aren’t going to be around for all that much longer, and they’ll gradually be cycled out and replaced by younger voters who grew up in a more tolerant era.
I don’t think social attitudes take a straight line onward and upward, but it’s a hopeful thought.
On November 15, 2008 at 1:36 am Jenny said...
Jon Stewart pointed out that America tends to move toward progression; that is, it’s inevitable that eventually marriage rights will be extended to all. I think he’s right, but I also think this may have been a good thing in the long run since it’s drawn so much attention. Because of course what we should have is a national right to marriage, not state by state.
Meanwhile Connecticut just made it legal with absolutely no fuss. “Gay marriage? Sure, why not.” First time I’ve felt warmly toward Connecticut.
Thanks for bringing more Nate, RfP.