YES WE DID!

Video: "A Night To Remember" courtesy of The Jed Report

I'd dearly love to paraphrase Gerald Ford's famous quote about Our long national nightmare is now over, but something tells me that we are only at the very beginning of the end of the national nightmare we've been forced to endure for the last eight years. There still remain so many constitutional wrongs to be righted, so many affronts to our personal liberties to be corrected, that it's probably unrealistic for us to expect that one man, our newly elected President Obama, will be able to address all these immediately, but I do have faith in his intrinsic goodness, integrity and honesty to believe that these things will not go neglected.

This remarkable man, who led a truly inspiring campaign to victory against many culturally ingrained odds and prevailed despite all the lies and hateful attacks, has made me so proud. And it's abundantly clear that the rest of the world (for the most part) is on board in cheering his election Tuesday night.... I remember several conversations that Fernymoss and I had last fall when the caucuses and primaries were getting going and I remarked that if Barack Obama were to be elected that it would be an instantaneous boost and corrective to our severely damaged image with the rest of the world. Even then, I had serious doubts that our country was ready to elect a biracial man to our highest office, but as the primaries progressed, I became increasingly hopeful that he could prevail to win the nomination and the presidency. And now it has happened for real and I'm still having a bit of difficulty truly believing that it really happened ... folks, people finally woke up and came out in record numbers (highest turnout since 1908) to make history. I am, after all these painful and depressing last eight years, proud of the promise of our country again ... now if we can only keep up the momentum, we may well be at a transformational turning point in our history. We've accomplished the first step, but there is still so much work to be done on OUR parts to make sure that we stay on the right track.

There's only so much one man can accomplish. But we need to pledge our faith and support to Obama's vision for transforming our politics and country. Really. Seriously. Look back on the insane degree of latitude given to Bu$h by the media after his illegitimate appointment by the Supreme Court back in 2000. At the very least, even those who voted against Obama owe it to our country to give him the benefit of the doubt and cease the scurrilous and downright hateful assaults against his character that were so poisonously lobbed at him during the campaign. Yes, I'm sure he will make missteps at points, but we need to be patient and let him steer the course out of these past eight horrid years.... He's been handed a plate full of nastiness that won't be resolved quickly, so we OWE him our support as he tackles these daunting challenges. Our country has reached the point of near economic collapse, due to the failed "conservative" policies of the last eight years (and since Reagan), and in the recession/depression that is either imminent or already happening, we're going to need some powerful and inspiring leadership, the likes of which we probably haven't seen since FDR. And I truly believe that Barack Obama will provide us with that leadership.

I could go on and on, but I hope I've made my basic point about how stunning his victory was on Tuesday ... I'm still pinching myself and after these few days I think it's finally starting to sink in. I remind myself every morning when I wake up that yes, indeed We Did It and come January 20, he will be our next president. What a relief! After imagining so many nightmare scenarios about how he could be prevented from assuming the office, it now looks that we're on track to have a president who will help bring this nation back from the brink, re-establish our international reputation, and begin to right the innumerable wrongs perpetrated upon our country by his illegitimate predecessor in the office.

Just consider how refreshing it will be to see our President speak at press conferences and such events ...a man who can construct an intelligent and coherent sentence ... who has a wry sense of honest humor ... who has the potential to put us back on a positive track to make us all proud to be citizens of the USA. There are no red states, there are no blue states, there are only the United States of America. Indeed ... I so look forward to that new beginning!

And to end on a lighter note, here's a brief clip of President-Elect Obama answering a question about the new dog soon to occupy the White House. I'm still in awe about how he can imbue such gravity and humor into a subject that many might find trivial, but I think is very weighty ... the choice of the right dog for Malia and Sasha....
I'm eagerly awaiting to see what the new "First Puppy" turns out to be ... One thing I'm pretty sure won't happen is that it will be a Scottish Terrier after that incident yesterday when Barney bit a reporter from Reuters!