Today I become a boss. HA HA HA!! Drunk with power.... (I'm kidding; I'm actually a little terrified at the thought of being in charge of someone, and I'm going to miss my complete independence in my job, but this is a good and necessary thing)

****

Oh, and I'm not going anywhere. I am staying right here to work for what I think is right. I am disgusted with the partisan split in this country, and I want people to once again start recognizing what we do have in common. I am, at heart, a small-town Midwestern Catholic, and I refuse to blame "Middle America" for ruining the world, or whatever it is we're doing. I know this is a flip from some of my initial reaction after the election. I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking. (Thanks Jim! Thanks Dad! Thanks Mom!)

And I've been spending a lot of time thinking about my grandparents. They've spent their whole lives working hard, providing for family, helping strangers, and teaching others to do good in the world. I am who I am because of them. If I value respecting all people and helping those less fortunate, it is because they taught me to do so. And yet, two of my grandparents vote Republican. If Granddad were still alive, he would too. And if Granny still votes Democrat, I know she does so with hesitation.

And I know and understand their reasons. The only difference between us, really, is that I have had different experiences. My morals, my values, are still very much Midwestern Catholic. I may not believe in God or go to church, but I am about as Catholic as it gets. Maybe it's because my Mom is a crazy liberal, or maybe it's because I spent college reading the writings of radical theologians, but I very much believe that Catholicism is completely compatible with feminism and environmentalism and everything else I hold dear.

So I'm not happy about this election, but I understand it. And I'm going to forget that I don't agree with those in power at a national level and work to change things on a local level. It's not enough to simply call myself a liberal.

Mind you, I still think Dick Cheney is an evil man who's misleading the very people who are voting for him. But I'm not mad at the voters.