There's Got To Be A Morning After....

Okay, I'm not just being lazy by thinking up song lyrics to blog about! But I spent most of yesterday recovering from a hangover, and the rest of the day feeling weepy, and now it's like, "Okay, NOW what??"

I felt weepy because I wished my parents Lewis and Eloise, and my two eldest siblings Julie and David could be here to see this. Then I saw this kid on CNN start talking about what the election meant to him, and then HE started getting choked up, and the I lost it AGAIN....I was basically a quivering wreck for most of the day.

On the way to the office this morning, sitting in a typical Nairobi traffic jam, I couldn't help reflecting on the last 48 hours and thinking, "What does it all REALLY mean?" Part of the reason traffic is so bad today is because 7 leaders of African nations have gathered in Nairobi to discuss the intensified rebel warfare in Eastern Congo. Over the past decade there, more than 5 million people have been killed or died from malnutrition and diseases associated with refugee life. BBC radio reported that rebel fighters have started dragging men and boys out of their homes and killing them because they won't join their ranks. Children are being recruited to help kill. Scores of people are starving to death daily.

So...after the "Post US Election High" the whole world seems to be feeling subsides, what's next? Some Kenyans seem to think a President Obama will be a savior of sorts. People are already planning what they'll do when they get their instantly expedited American visas.Other African nations think his election means an automatically elevated stature and benefits for the entire continent.

People are looking for magic. But where's the magic in Eastern Congo?

Guess you can tell my own high has diminished significantly. As proud of and happy as I am for President-elect Obama, I have to shudder when I think of the challenges he faces, and how much madness and pain and suffering exists in the rest of world.

Still, I can't stop thinking about the lyrics from the theme to "The Poseidon Adventure." It feels like the US has been trapped on a sinking ship for the past 8 years, and we've finally reached the morning after.

THE MORNING AFTER
Maureen McGovern
(A. Kasha/J. Hirshhorn)

There's got to be a morning after
If we can hold on through the night
We have a chance to find the sunshine
Let's keep on lookin' for the light

Oh, can't you see the morning after?
It's waiting right outside the storm
Why don't we cross the bridge together
And find a place that's safe and warm?

It's not too late, we should be giving
Only with love can we climb
It's not too late, not while we're living
Let's put our hands out in time

There's got to be a morning after
We're moving closer to the shore
I know we'll be there by tomorrow
And we'll escape the darkness
We won't be searchin' any more

There's got to be a morning after
(There's got to be a morning after)
There's got to be a morning after
(There's got to be a morning after)
There's got to be a morning after
(There's got to be a morning after)
There's got to be a morning after
(There's got to be a morning after)
There's got to be a morning after
(There's got to be a morning after)