I'll be the first to admit it. I whole-heartedly bought into the message of hope Barack Obama's campaign stood for in 2008.
I always scratch my head, however, when I see bumper stickers or read a Sarah Palin Tweet that says something along the lines of, "How's that hopey changey thing working out for you?"
Quite well, actually, and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to ask me.
What the majority of those bumper sticker-sporting pick up truck drivers and their conservative politicians and talking heads whom they idolize don't seem to understand, is that hopeful guys like me actually don't worship the president. Sorry you were misinformed, but I don't have an effigy to El Presidente in my closet that I pray to five times a day.
In fact, a lot of the things he's done, or failed to do, since becoming president, have plain pissed me off. Does this mean I am not hopeful anymore?
Nope.
If anything, I'm more hopeful, for I know there is still much more change for me to believe in before I kick the bucket, well after Barack Obama is slurping on an alcoholic beverage with his arm around Michelle on some exotic island in retirement.
Conservatives seem to think that because we have not come out of this economic crisis and because the Democrats took an epic you-know-what whooping in November, somehow hope has been refuted. They circulate chain emails that depict tree-hugging liberals throwing their hands up in anguish, wondering what happened to their rock star who was supposed to remake the world into an episode of Sesame Street overnight.
Meanwhile, they advise their faithful to "reload for the revolution" or whatever, because apparently, even though they think Barack Obama's been the failure of all failures, the country is still in danger of becoming the USSR tomorrow.
Should the curious conservative actually ask one of us embattled liberals, though, he'd be sad to find that the doctrine of hope is indeed still alive in this country.
Barack Obama's campaign only harnessed a hopeful energy that already existed. It did not create it, and it is not capable of dying simply because of a midterm election defeat.
I am still hopeful this nation will finally take responsibility for its role in climate change. I'm still hopeful that the wealthy and corporate elites will once again pay their fair share to trim down our national debt.
We elected Obama to be our change agent, not the actual change. We knew it would not occur overnight, or even over one term. This does not mean we are giving up.
We look forward to crushing Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney or any other niche candidate the GOP tries to put up against the president.
Because even though the damage of three decades of neoliberal policies that began with Reagan has not been undone by Obama, we know he is trying and that he stands for the Christian, American values of faith, love and charity that the hopeful majority of this nation stands for as well.
But oh wait, I almost forgot the petty minority still believes he's a Kenyan Muslim. Guess we didn't really get anywhere did we?
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