..And I am curious about whether or not you have voted (if you’re doing absentee) or registered and planed (for the stateside crew)! Here I am filling out my own absentee ballot — the juice on the table is a nod to the candidate of choice (Barack means “peach” in Hungarian). Just remember, your Obama vote matters not just for you…not just for the fact that Sarah Palin could easily be running this country without him (I know several American pets who have more foreign policy experience)… but it also matters to all of Europe. I’ve done my arguing about how sad it is to see the state of America’s reputation abroad, how we have gone from last best hopes to something more of a letdown.

And I know I am but an English teacher, and that I’m better suited to explaining color imagery in a story or talking about what makes a strong thesis for an essay than suggesting I understand how to fix economic crises or get out of a fragile war. But I can’t stop worrying and hoping and begging people to take a stand in this election anyway.  For the last 8 years, criticizing anything America does has been labeled by the Bush Doctrine (Ms. Palin, if you don’t know what that is call me…or Katie Couric…either of us would be happy to explain) as “unpatriotic” or “anti-American”. I criticize, for sure, but I am neither: nothing like being abroad reminds me of how, undeniably and indelibly, I reflect the nation where I was raised, and that I am American. And happy to be so.

But nothing like being abroad  shows me how sad it is when we don’t meet the ideals we profess to stand for, and to spread throughout the world (particularly being in a country which, during my lifetime, believed we did actually stand for them). It hurts, for instance, to hear a student say he doesn’t want to try to study in America anymore because “it is too humiliating” to try to get a Visa (so much for that give me your tired… welcome line). We should do better.

So. Go. Register. Support the man who has the best chance of making ties, not splitting them. Tell your friends to.  If you don’t listen to me, listen to Springsteen. To those cute kids from Gossip Girl. Listen to Colin Powell. Just do it — not just for yourselves, but for all those who don’t have a vote, but whose own futures depend on the outcome of American elections as well.