Good Work 'Murica...

I'm Canadian, and I'm proud of that certainty, but I can still say this...what happens south of here, in America, matters to me.  I grew up on the border, I soaked up two cultures that despite feeling oh-so similar are just not, but also kinda are.  I have an abundance of US weaved memories.  I watch the Detroit news. I read the Detroit papers.  We entertain ourselves, in large part, in Detroit.  I have a lot of good friends that are separated from me by an imaginary line.  Passports can keep us apart, or surly border agents.  A good part of my growing up and learning happened on the other side of that line.  So when something as big as potentially re-electing the 44th President of the United States occurs, I'm paying attention...and choosing sides.

It wouldn't take a roadmap and a compass to suss out who I'd have voted for.  The way that I live my life kind of reveals that, and I went to bed feeling hopeful and happy that my friends would push forward with what they had committed to over the past four years.

As a citizen of another country the politics aren't mine, but the social relevance and impact most certainly are.  What was monumental four years ago is equally so again, and the impact zone of that momentous thing spreads across my entire country.  One, if not the, most powerful nations on the planet has a leader that believes in the voice of women, who believes that each and every citizen has a choice and a chance, who believes that we all should be taking care of one another, who gives power and pays attention to people that others would not, who seems to set an admirable example of not just President, but of humanity and husbandry and fatherhood... of humanity.  Human dignity and rights matter.  The image and impact of America on the planet matters.  The environment matters.  Detroit and the rest of the rust belt where we grew up and continue to live and raise our own children, matters.  There are things that intersect in a Barack Obama Presidency that directly affect my life as a Canadian, and I went to bed happy that my friends just on the other side of that water that separates us will have four more years of picking each other up, and not waiting for an economist to do it.  It was an easy sleep.

The women and young people, and minorities and a half dozen other demographics that Barack Obama has mobilized and illuminated the strength of, will absolutely affect my life as a Canadian.  The slow, but sturdy recovery of the US economy...the survival of the Auto industry...the attention paid to education, social services, and the environment, will all impact my life as a Canadian.

Nice work America.  It almost didn't happen, which confuses me beyond measure, but it did and so the entire world summarily breathed a sigh of relief.  Good decision.  Here's some advice to keep in mind for next time.  Whatever Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band wants you to do...just do it.