I cannot find the words to express my feelings about today, about being and living abroad as the US Presidential election unfolds. I am proud to be an American. I am not always proud of some of the ways America and Americans are presented or represented in the world, but I have no shame or regret for being an American citizen. I will not say that we are “the greatest nation in the world” – what does that mean anyway? But I will say that there is a spirit, a joie de vivre, a sturdy, yet warm resilience that is quintessentially American, and I am thankful that I have that in my bones. Whatever the outcome today, I hope that whomever wins will take a long, hard look at the very rocky terrain we have traversed in this campaign cycle, and take steps to bridge the bitter and brutal divides that have been created. I have no doubt that America will survive whatever the result, my only hope is that we can find a path to unity, to being truly United.
While my friends are waiting in will surely seem to be endless poll station lines (queues) today, I will be in Birmingham with my D.E.B. watching a special “US Election screening” of Oliver Stone’s new film “W”. (I won tickets to this premiere last week on Classic FM.) How very appropriate, the D.E.B and I thought, to be watching this film as America’s new era without George W. Bush begins.
