yes we can

Not to be too much of the cliche "Obamatard," but I can say, completely unembarrassed, that every time I watch this video I cry -- I think I've earned that right. And I think you might agree why:

The thing is, whether or not Obama "has the qualifications," whatever that means, Obama's vision is the America I was taught about in grammar school. It's the great American myth, the city on a hill, the idea that we are a special nation unlike any nation that has ever existed.

And why is that?

Because we have striven for more than what was given to us. We believe that we can make our lives whatever we want them to be -- we've made mistakes, but we're willing to correct them. We fought for civil rights and equal justice. We reject the idea of oppression. More than anything in my childhood, I remember hearing over and over:

"What do you mean, no?"

As John McCain said in his (quite moving) concession speech, nothing in our history was inevitable. But there is no "no" for Americans. There's just another way to getting what we want. We value this above all else. And because that kind of boundless optimism was fed to us from our mothers' milk, we can do so much more.

I'm 24. That means I was 17 years old the day the Twin Towers fell. My entire adult life has been post-911 -- I've had a president who mongered fear to coerce my countrymen into distrusting the outside world, into feeling trapped and scared of the government; he used it to usurp our rights as citizens, to spy on us and make us feel distrusted (and, in turn, distrusting), and on top of all that, to shame us out of using our Constitutionally guaranteed rights as Americans to openly dissent with the government's decisions. We were called "unpatriotic" if we didn't support a war that maimed and murdered our friends and put our nation into 14 DIGITS of debt, deprioritizing things like social security and the quality of our public schools, which is the very cornerstone of democracy -- after all, a population that cannot read, cannot possibly dictate the future of its government. We watched the government deregulate for corporations and allow jobs to be sent overseas never to return. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer. The president of the past 8 years has alternately overlooked and trampled on Americans.

For 8 years, Americans have embraced a reckless "leader" who encouraged Americans to abandon education, not to try to be smart -- because somehow, intelligence equals "elitist." Because somehow, decorum equals "elitist." Because somehow, excellence equals "elitist." Apparently, you're only a "real" American if you have a limited vocabulary and a ranch. This, from a nation that shouts to the world that we are exceptional. How does that make sense? As Aaron Sorkin said to a fictional Barack Obama,

The idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

Well, that doesn't represent me. That doesn't represent what I've been taught about my nation, my home. That doesn't represent what I want for my life.

And then suddenly along comes some guy saying, "Hey, this is a great country -- we are exceptional. Americans don't settle, we strive. Work for your country, work for your community -- we can make America the place it is in our hearts, minds and memories. Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!"

And suddenly the beacon is illuminated once again, and we remember things about ourselves we had nearly forgotten. It's the world I want to live in -- the only world I would ever feel comfortable bringing children into. And I just have to say that I am immensely proud to be a part of this moment in history. Who knows what the future will bring? Clearly, one election does not represent an instant panacea. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. But for the first time in nearly a decade, I feel really good about tomorrow. Slash, democracy.

As Adam said, my generation is the class of 9/12, defined by the impact of an event that changed the course of our nation. For a while, it seemed that the force of the impact of those planes into our tallest skyscrapers would reverberate from sea to shining sea for all eternity. Well, I think we've stopped feeling the tremors of terror. Panic is passe -- we want our lives back.

In time, we can excel again -- even without American flag lapel pins.

And, clearly, my fellow Americans agree: Yes, we can!