Wednesday, November 12, 2008

"It feels good to be cool"

Well, yeah, but speaking as the guy who taught the Fonz and Steve McQueen everything they know, like what's new?

There is so much syrupy shit goin' around about Obama's election that I've been checking my blood sugar level twice a day, but this one from Garrison Keillor is very nice, you should go read:

It feels good to be cool, and all of us can share in that, even sour old right-wingers and embittered blottoheads. Next time you fly to Heathrow and hand your passport to the man with the badge, he's going to see "United States of America" and look up and grin. Even if you worship in the church of Fox, everyone you meet overseas is going to ask you about Obama, and you may as well say you voted for him because, my friends, he is your line of credit over there. No need anymore to try to look Canadian.

So enjoy the afterglow of the election awhile longer. We all walk taller this fall. People in Copenhagen and Stockholm are sending congratulatory e-mails—imagine! We are being admired by Danes and Swedes! And Chicago becomes The First City. Step aside, San Francisco. Shut up, New York. The Midwest is cool now. The mind reels. Have a good day.

Note to New York: Don't listen to him! Most decidedly do not shut up!

Note to Frisco: Garrison who? Just keep on keepin' on. Baghdad-by-the-Bay is like granola: What ain't fruits or nuts is flakes. We need that.

The flip side is that we might actually be able to get a good Chicago-style deep-dish pizza out west here some time soon! I'm down wid dat!

The afterglow of the momentous election may only last until reality sets back in, but it will feel grand for a while yet.

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