As I watched the election coverage unfold, the message sent by choosing Grant Park as Obama's election site wasn't lost on me. I'm not sure they even meant that location to be so deeply symbolic to me, but it was.
See, when Chicago was growing into a city, the planners made a choice as to how they wanted that new city to be. They followed the Burnham Plan, which, among other things, saved the lakefront for public spaces, like parks and museums. The wealthy and privileged couldn't plunk their big fat mansions on it and hog it all for themselves. It belonged to the people.
To this day, no one can even build a tall building to obstruct the view of the lake.
I find that absolutely revolutionary, and wonderfully, uniquely American.
It reminds me of a story, possibly myth, about Charles Dickens visiting America and being delightfully surprised at having to lift his own suitcase onto a stagecoach. In Europe, his stature as a prominent writer would've dictated that the stagehand lift it for him, but he wasn't in Europe. He was in America.
I think that's why people are so excited about Barack Obama, because we're America again. The sort of person who would invite everyone to his election party, who wasn't the "right sort," who just four years ago I would've sworn "they" wouldn't allow to be elected, has just been elected. That's American.
"Real" Americans aren't just found in rural America, as Sarah Palin once thought. "Real" Americans root against Judge Schmaels in Caddyshack. We don't want to live in a "crummy snobbatorium." With the permanent underclass and upperclass segments that supply-side economics created, a lot of us felt like America was turning into Bushwood. And we were the staff who were only allowed to use the pool for 15 minutes on "Caddy Day," while the Republicans were Ted Knight's posse.
Now, we've got a "colored boy" ("Colored boy??!! Why you sonofabitch...") and a Catholic (Oh, I didn't know you were Catholic. I'm afraid you can't come") running things.
I just have two words to say to that: Tee. Hee.
