Something I realized

This was the very first presidential election I was old enough to vote in. It was so exciting being able to cast that vote for a man I knew would be an historic president, for more reasons than just his skin color. I can't wait to tell my kids and grandkids that I voted for him, and what election night was like.

I think the best, and most unexpected, outcome of this election for me has been the role it served in my view of myself. For the first time in a long time, I am proud to say that I am American.

For little less than half of my life, patriotism and pride in my country had been equated to mindless support of an incompetent leader and a pointless war. The Bush administration had commandeered these things to the point that when I saw red, white, and blue, or heard someone extolling the virtues of our country, I felt not pride, but shame. I didn't feel like I was a part of America, the America we had become. I felt like an unsupportive, unpatriotic outsider in my own country.

Then, during the election process, Obama changed all of that. What I realized last night is that throughout this election, he had been talking of justice and equality, and patriotism. And I was able to stand behind the things he said in support of not only him, but the values my country was truly founded on. I could call myself a patriot, and it no longer meant that I supported everything my country did just because my country did it. Suddenly, fighting the status quo became American, and I was able once more to identify with, and have pride in, the country where I was born and raised. 

I am American, and I love my country.