HAUNGS: History repeating?

In light of the pending 2012 presidential election in the close distance and the conundrum of who will be opposing President Barack Obama, it’s worth wondering if the energy gathered from the 2008 victory is still holding steam.

This nation and its youth generation were greatly empowered a mere three years ago when a truly landmark moment went down in our history books: the United States’ first African-American president was elected. The first non-Caucasian president, for that matter. The nation (maybe not all the Republicans) reentered a time of hope and optimism. Obama was going to get us out of the war, get the economy back on track and move society into a time of absolute liberty and remarkable education. But, and I hate to say it, this administration has only achieved a small fraction of its platform.

I cannot and will not even attempt to address what went wrong, who went wrong (and I’m not necessarily blaming Obama himself) and why it all went wrong here in 500 words because it just wouldn’t do such an extensive argument justice. I’m here to ask our nation, can we do it again? Can we empower our youth, our minorities and our societal sub-cultures to rise above the masses again? Can we make history? And we can. It is certainly possible. Hillary Clinton could very well rise and become our first female president. Presumed long shot Republican Fred Karger could slip through the oppressive social-conservative grip and become, finally, America’s first openly gay president.

So I guess the question is less of a “can we?” and more “will we?” I would love to put faith in our nation and say that we would vote in Karger as our president, but let’s be honest, he won’t even pass the primary election. It would be delusional to think Karger will win, and I dream of being proved wrong on this, in a nation where only five states allow for gay marriage and where a law like the Defense of Marriage Act is just recently being put under review when it explicitly defies an article of the Constitution.

Beyond that, this nation hasn’t been the same since the beginning of the Iraq War and the recession to which we have become accustom. I will always remember that night in November when I watched Obama address hundreds of thousands in Chicago. A minority had finally become president. I was watching history be made right before my eyes and I couldn’t believe I was a part of it. My mom and I, and countless others, sat there with chills on our skin and hope in our minds, but I sit in the same spot today wondering where that hope went.

Where have you been, federal government, and why have you failed me? And it is truly troubling, because it very well could mean that the majority of our nation will turn back to conservatism, because so far, this is not working out. It is necessarily to re-empower our youth and minorities and remind this country that 2008 was step one. We’ve got plenty of stairs to climb. We’re too far to turn back now.