Gushlak.com

Wow! Those crazy Americans were serious about that

equal opportunity for all

crap. Who knew? The cartoonist, Sidney Harris described a cynic as

not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.

Yesterdays election struck a blow against cynicism throughout the world. The election of a black man was bad enough, but when one factors in the fact that Barack Obama is extremely intelligent, stereotypes about the American electorate are disappearing faster than Christmas party invitations to Lehman Brothers executives. What about the Adlai Stevenson rule of politics that proved on more than one occasion that the American public will not vote for anyone they perceive as being more intelligent than themselves? What about the George W Bush rule (see above)?

Already this morning, Ive heard the word

Camelot

on two different American networks. Im reminded of the puzzles in the childrens Highlights Magazine when I was a child. Theres a picture of the White House with little children chasing a puppy under the Oval Office desk.

Whats wrong with this picture?

the caption asks.

Ah, but maybe this one time its a trick question. Maybe theres nothing wrong with this picture. What’s a cynic to do? Perhaps a donation to the Dorothy Parker Foundation would be in order.

What happens when a quarter of the population no longer feels disenfranchised? The words

potential

and

possibility

are creeping into my writing this morning. My personalized spell check is underlining them in green, uncertain from past experience what Im trying to say.

By Myron Gushlak