This detail is from a photo taken by Miguel Medina. It's a group of French citizens watching American election returns in a suburb of Paris. And wow, it just nails that bittersweet feeling of being French and realizing that the U.S. has just skyrocketed to a new plane of forward-looking leadership, don't it? Look how confused they are! And sad! And...French! How can this be the United States?And it just makes me think of that brilliant moment in Jerry Maguire in the hallway outside the locker room after Rod Tidwell's (Cuba Gooding) game-winning catch against Dallas. The sports press swarms onto Tidwell as he exits the locker room - this is a guy who was hated by the press, who acted like a jerk all the time, and finally, he's given a chance to redeem himself in their eyes. He breaks down (tears = good press) and thanks everyone but Jerry. Finally remembering his agent, he bursts through the gaggle of reporters to man-hug him and shout his praises to all who can hear.
Nearby, Dallas QB Troy Aikman and his agent, Jay Mohr, watch this lovefest unfold. Aikman wistfully pines, "How come we don't ever do that?" and Mohr pathetically tries to hug him. Aikman shoos him off.
That picture is like Aikman - shaking your head, looking at the guy you thought you knew, and realizing that actually, you want what he has.
Even with so much so bad, that power of our democracy really does inspire hope in me. I'm really, really glad we got the right guy in the office.
