Well, that was a hell of an evening.
Things were a little quiet at the Saddle Cantina early on (at least, outside on the terrace: people seemed to think there was just a little too much of a nip in the air to sit outside, but I think I'll be happy in my shirtsleeves for a while yet), but by 8.30 or so the place was heaving.
I suspect it was the same in many other bars around town, and all over the country, in every country - a spontaneous worldwide party! There probably hasn't been such a universal outpouring of pride, relief, and optimism since the end of World War II (well, maybe the fall of the Berlin Wall or the release of Mandela might have been close....).
I discovered - rather to my surprise and horror - that one of my friends is a closet Republican. He was the only one in the place, and was suitably subdued. I was very good: I didn't gloat, I didn't tease, I didn't mention Sarah Palin once. I didn't even use the "How can you tell if you're a redneck?" line on him (although I was tempted).
I then went on to have an excellent night in Salud. And then, of course, I looked in at the Pool Bar "on the way home", and didn't get to bed until around 4am.
Today began with a goading "You're not going to be LATE this morning, are you?" message from my recording partner DD.
My rueful reply: "Given that it's 9.22 and I'm still in bed, I'm afraid I probably am. SORRY." Oh dear.
5 comments:
horror to discover your friend is a closet republican.. what a progressive and tolerant Democrat you are.
Froog...
Sorry for the above rant, Sir. I am just fresh out of tolerance and goodwill these days.
Lighten up, Cowboy. The weekend is here.
And more good things than bad are on the way soon - at least from the new American administration.
Incognito, I'm not in fact a Democrat, nor even an American. I tend to lean more towards the Democrats because of all that bigoted baggage the Cowboy mentioned that taints so much of the Republicans' core vote. However, I don't "support" the Democrats strongly or invariably. I loathed Clinton as an unprincipled slimebag and a man of very little substance.
Obama, I think, is something quite exceptional. He has an intelligence, a dignity, and a charisma that we haven't seen in an American leader for a long, long time.
On another blog the other day I commented that he was the "first non-embarrassing American President in my lifetime", and an American reader queried how I could possibly know. Well, of course we don't know what his record in office will prove to be. Probably he will embarrass or disappoint in many areas. But overall, I'm feeling very optimistic. My point was that every other President in the last 40 years was an embarrassment to most of the rest of the world on the day when he was elected. Obama isn't. He's impressive. He's inspiring. He's credible.
Being black is just a bonus. I hope he picks one or two Cabinet members who are gay.
Belatedly...
The way I have described the experience of voting for Obama: 36 years. 10 Presidential elections. And this is the first time that I could read the headlines the next day without thinking either, "Oh no, that evil bastard won" or "Well, at least he's not that evil bastard."
High hopes and a differently-hemisphered glass raised in thanks for this post, Froog.
Froog - I agree with you that good things are on the way; or at least better things. Maybe not in an absolute sense, but certainly in a cleaner, more decent way.
And I am generally playing nice with Republicans, including my good friends who are fo that persuasion. E & S for example, were pretty surprised at my total lack of gloating.
But for the wingnuts, who have spent the last months stirring up racial hatred and xenophobia, who have used an allegation that someone is a Muslim as if it is a great insult, and who have cultivated hatred of gay people to the extent that the most liberal state in the union removes the right to marriage from them... Well, fuck every last one of them. They don't deserve civility until they learn how to show it themselves. Any calls to be the "better man" are going to fall on deaf ears from me.
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