The recent past

Last night, I finished reading that long, long, long inside special piece on our recent presidential election that Newsweek published this week. I didn’t get a formal word count, but I estimate it is about 50,000 words long.

I came away with two new things from the piece. First, the unflappable demeanor which President-elect Obama displayed during the campaign is a very deep seated personality trait. Second, the peculiar, irrational direction changes displayed by the McCain campaign clearly reflect a poor excercise in leadership skills on the part of Senator McCain.

Each of these observations were uninformed opions of mine prior to the piece’s publication. It was interesting to read of specific moments in the piece which upheld these views.

Jesse wept.

On this moving night, one which challenges my deep-seated cynicism and negativity, the psychological moment of the evening that most engages me is encapsulated in the tears of Jesse Jackson in Grant Park. I wanted nothing more than to grasp him and hold him in sympathy, in recognition of the transparency and complexity of his emotion.