The Morning After: President-Elect Obama and a Science Fiction Future

Some thoughts:

1. Sometimes when I read SF stories, I can tell the story’s set in the future because the President of the United States¹ is a minority. It means a lot to me, as an American who happens to be Asian, that I’ve seen this event occur in my lifetime.

2. Just because Obama is the President-Elect doesn’t mean that racism is now a myth or not a factor in the lives of minorities. The coasts are, usually, good places; down south I understand they’re still hanging effigies of black men.²

3. This is the first time I’ve felt I can fly an American flag on my blog and not be a hypocrite. I never expected that anybody could ever make me feel patriotic about my country ever again.

4. Just a few of the terms and phrases whose associations I hope are eliminated: The Bush Doctrine. Guantanamo Bay. Weapons of mass destruction. PATRIOT Act. Legalized torture.

5. The Rovian machine is broken.

6. I’m going to have to get used to a president who can write books and speak in coherent sentences. By the way, here are his books available on the Kindle:

7. Generation We.

8. I’m so tired. Hopefully I can start winding my head around some F&SF soon.

1. Or the Prime Minister of the United Planet, whatever [↩]
2. It’s been pointed out to me that I shouldn’t be judging regions of the country. This comment was not motivated by ignorance, but by personal experience, friends’ experiences, and news items. Although I guess all that means is that I’m only slightly less ignorant. [↩]