a new age dawns

I occasionally name-drop one of my classmates from college: Dikembe Mutombo, a congolais (formerly a zaïrois) who came to America and made good, becoming a famous basketball player and doing so much for his beloved homeland in Africa. He graduated right in front of me in May of 1991; we were both there when Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne, gave the graduation speech for the Georgetown School of Languages and Linguistics.

Dikembe and I were both in a French Theater class back during the 1988-89 academic year and Dikembe, being as tall as he was, was given the role of "The Angel" who appears in the third and final act of Paul Claudel's La Ville, a play that's supposed to be an allegory for Claudel's conversion to Catholicism in his early twenties. When Dikembe appeared stage center, dressed in little more than a simple white robe, the effect was, as you might imagine, awesome. No one would have dared to view him as a hyperthyroid fugitive from an elementary school Christmas pageant. He was an angel, dammit-- THE angel! Resplendent in his robe, Dikembe commanded attention; all eyes were riveted upon him. He was also gifted with a booming voice, which served him well when he made his grand appearance in the ruins of the city and intoned his first cosmic utterance early in the third act:

O vous!
O camp des hommes malheureux!
Je viens,
et non pas la nuit
mais LE JOUR
est dans le milieu de la ville!

Frisson. Electrifying stuff. An enormous angel appears and promises redemption to the smoldering city. This isn't deus ex machina-- it's deus ex terra, an apocalyptic vision, the divinity rising as if from out of the earth. The angel is a messenger; he brings news of salvation for all people.

A lot of talk about Barack Obama has centered on his magnetism, his ability to draw and inspire crowds through oratory. The more satirical sectors of American society style Obama "The One" or "The Messiah" or "The Savior." Somehow, as we sit on the cusp of a long-expected Obama victory, I'm reminded of those seven performances of La Ville I did with our theater troupe at the French Embassy, right across the street from the back of Georgetown's campus. Barack Obama: the obsidian angel in alabaster robes.

I come...
and it is not night, but DAY
that is in the midst of the city!

This is, apparently, the promise that Obama brings. I hope it's a promise sincerely meant.

Meantime, I'll enjoy the national euphoria while it lasts. The conservatives will sulk a bit, but they've known this moment was coming; very few of them will be in denial. They might shake themselves free of their years-long torpor, refocus on the virtues of classical conservatism, and be about the task of healing themselves before they once again attempt the White House. Liberal Democrats will, at least for the moment, enjoy a nearly unprecedented level of control of government. Let's hope they employ the reins wisely: Americans are oft-unruly steeds.

George W. Bush, in his second inaugural address, spoke of "the angel in the whirlwind." I wonder if he had any idea what sort of angel the whirlwind was bringing.


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