Being the narcissist I am, I inevitably frame national and global politics in terms of the events of my own life, making connections—often tenuous—between the macro and micro in an effort to better contextualize historical developments so huge they defy contextualization.

Being the narcissist I am, when I think about what happened tonight, I think how I spent the bulk of the last decade. I am old enough to have plenty of unhappy adult memories of the years 2000-2008, especially the last time we tried to find a new leader. But I am still young enough that eight years feels like a really long time; a quarter of my life, in fact. And no eight-year span has ever felt as long as the most recent one.

Being the narcissist I am, I feel as if tonight, my country vindicated me by vindicating the whole.

Riding my bike home tonight I made a mental list of the ways things were different the last time I was proud of our country’s leadership:

- I was twenty-four years old

- I was living in Grinnell, IA

- I had a predominantly different set of friends than I do now

- My favorite band was the Dismemberment Plan, and they were still together

- Gas cost $1 a gallon

- My father was still alive

- I was a member of Speed of Sauce

- I was still in college

Things are different now, in a billion different ways. It might take me a while to get reacquainted with my own patriotism, but I’m looking forward to that process. If a person is bombarded by enough bad news, that person might begin to forget what good news sounds like.

Finally, some good news.