jamescuarterodotcom

i really can’t describe how great i feel today, it’s like the fog of the past eight years been lifted. this election was not only a rejection of the failed policies and leadership of george bush and the divisive tactics of karl rove. it was also the sound of millions of previously unheard voices: minorities and the youth, the disenchanted, disenfranchised and cynical saying, no, SHOUTING that they are engaged and emotionally invested in the future of this country. not because it’s fashionable or that they’ve been swept up in obama’s celebrity but because over the course of this campaign they’ve learned (and we as well) what it feels like to matter and that civic responsibility doesn’t begin and end in the voting booth.

And Barack stood up that day, and he spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about the world as it is and the world as it should be. And he said that all too often we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is, even when it doesn’t reflect our values and aspirations.

But he reminded us that we also know what the world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like, and he urged us to believe in ourselves, to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn’t that the great American story?

- michelle obama