What a week

I have to say that I've been nervous since my last post: I wasn't sure about the Presidential election outcome. I still remember the shock of 2000, of going to bed confident that Gore would be our President and waking up to the horror of Bush. Some friends had asked what I would do if Obama didn't "win"; I would joke about moving to Canada, but seriously I started quaking when contemplating a non-Obama future.

(This week, I've had a seriously hard time focusing on work, and I'm behind grading student assignments. I haven't talked with them at all about the election specifically (too many students with huge McCain Palin stickers on their notebooks), but we have had many discussions and exercises about detecting argument moves, conducting rhetorical analysis, uncovering logical fallacies. That's the most I could manage; I suppose I was fearful I'd have to engage in some kind of argument with a person whose strongly held values come from their parents.)

This year, I watched the formerly-red states turn blue on the big screen TV at my friend's house, watching the numbers roll in with my politic son and his smart friend (masters degree from Brown in public affairs and public policy). It's terrific to see history happening with smart, like-minded people, to watch a Harvard law grad give a calm, intelligent speech that suggests the calm, intelligent decision-maker and leader he will be.