This week an African American man became President of these United States because of the efforts of progressive and hopeful people willing to stand up, speak out and vote. No act of a higher being can be proven to have realized this amazing moment in this critical and dangerous time.
The crowds, people, a cold glorious day and a new President who speaks eloquently is so refreshing it seems surreal. For this proud Progressive and humanist, this day has been a long time coming. Perhaps Change is coming. I've not waited nearly as long as African Americans, but I sense they are experiencing something similar. I can't quite say I'm convinced a Progressive is now in the White House, but what a fantastic opportunity such a Progressive reality could be.
I feel this new reality will require us to set aside our faith and belief, and work to make it so. Folks, we have to learn to dance, for we know Obama can, and one of us has got to lead the other. We've been leading with our ideas for years, bringing the candidates along as followers is our job.
Looking back for a moment, let us thank those who helped get us here. To this starting place, this new beginning, Obama has referenced, the many people who for lifetimes have had to endure and struggle against such incredible odds and oppression, to bring up their decendants, us, with the possibilities of a brighter future that perhaps has arrived today for our nation.
Two men in particular, I also believe, deserve thanks for their willingness to speak out and move us to stay the course: Keith Olbermann and John Edwards. Both men, in their own flawed and eloquent ways, spoke out about what was wrong and suggested strongly how to fix it. They were right, and still are; they spoke for us and now we will see what President Obama and the Democrats will do.
What they must now do is bring our troops home, create green jobs while ending our wasteful ways, establish clean trustworthy elections, remove corruption from politics once and for all, reestablish the full power and honor of the Constitution and reinvest in our Nation by rebuilding our infrastructure and restructuring our health care, education, transportation, energy and banking systems.
Yes, I said reestablish the Honor of the Constitution. The people of the nation expect nothing less than acting to repair the damage of the last decade plus of failed Republican and Conservative ideological dogma. The GOP, which now stands for Gone, Over, Past, is just that. Good riddance. We must not let stand their abuses for the precedent it would set, so we must hold those who acted criminally accountable. Our credibility as a nation is at stake.
Now, let me say I was frustrated by the constant reference to a mythical being by the preachers and the new President himself the last few days. This constant reference to a god is a new thing, something that lingers as the last vestiges of the now dead campaigns of manipulation by the radical and religious right. Our nation, for nearly all of its history except for the last 30 years, has never pressed religious belief as criteria for patriotism or reason for our success. It was always a personal and private element for the individual, and its absence in our discourse worked well to keep us well mannered. By its absence, it allowed us to respect each other - not qualify and define ourselves by our differences.
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