Back to School, or, Welcome, 111th Congress!

The holiday cookies are baked and eaten, the pageantry and celebration of whatever winter rituals you and your family observe is over, the oddball gifts returned or tucked away to re-gift later...and most of all, the kids are back at school! (Or will be soon.)

And those big kids--ones we elected--are settling in to the 111th session of Congress today.

Al Franken, though officially winner of the MN senate race, won't be seated just yet. And Roland Burris, the corruption-free appointment to the Illinois U.S. senate seat by the corruption-ridden governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is fighting to be seated by his peers at the moment despite being turned away at the door. (I have nothing for or against Burris; this is all about Blago trying to stink up the joint with his fellow Dems however he can. Loser.)

With his presence at the inauguration, Pastor Rick Warren will be casting a shadow (in my angst-ridden world, at least) over the otherwise joyous and hugely historic landslide election of our first-ever African American president. Can we take a moment and just acknowledge how far we've come as a people that Obama's racial heritage is both completely incidental to his gifts as a statesman, and also a remind ourselves that for some it's still the first, negative, and "scary" thing they see? And yet.

Just as the president-elect is a powerful symbol upon whom we project the contradictions of our innovation-loving greatness and our worst fearful flaws, the inauguration ceremony itself will be fraught with the same contradictions. Here we are as a nation, and a people: tremendous freedoms in racial equality earned at a great price, and yet with regard to marriage equality and truly universal equal rights, we tolerate a petty, thoughtless majority that's willing to confer second class citizenship on a minority.

As Walt Whitman said, we contain multitudes. And sometimes that state is painful as well as a source of pride.

I'm impatient and cranky that the arc of history is bending too slowly toward justice. I think we need some more weight on there. Can you sit on it with me, and bring some people with you? Hefty people, preferably.

I leave you with Sandra Tsing Loh, the uber-Mother on Fire, the ur-Mama and head honcho in my personal pantheon of MOMocrat deities. (Dooce? Who's that? I sprang fully formed from the forehead of Loh's Depth Takes a Holiday, thankyouverymuch.)

Listen to Loh, who recently awarded some Los Angeles women the honor of being Dalai Mamas (requires Real Audio Player). From a bunch of ticked off women prowling the playgrounds, pissed that their public schools were shitty and ready to rumble on behalf of their kids and everyone else's kids came one woman who's now running for school board in her district. (I keep hoping Jaelithe will do the same in Missouri, and LawyerMama will maybe ponder a run for something in Virginia, and Queen of Spain will accept a demotion from queen to California State Assemblyperson, and so on. These MOMocrats I write with? Dalai Mamas ALL.) May that ticked-off mom run for governor of California or some other higher office some day.

So let's not leave it up to President Obama, his cabinet, and the mix of yobs, jerks, tools, and wonderful public servants in the 111th Congress, okay?

There are at least several hundred thousand campaign volunteers for Obama who are now community organizers. There are voters by the millions who care about our country and the deep shit we're in. Correction: the deep shit that Bush-Cheney piled on us. There's a lot that needs doing.

Come on, betches. It's ON.

Comments

[Gunfighter]

Huzzah!

[Lawyer Mama]

I love you, Cyn!

[Georgie]

I unfortunately bothered to read a lot of articles on George Bush,it essentially left me with the sad feeling of our country is based on a couple earth shattering opinions from majority's:Our best and our better-than....sad.