I am solely responsible for these opinions, and I approved this message.

I have so many thoughts about the amazing outcome of the election.
I am surprised, and yet I'm not surprised. I was afraid that Obama wouldn't be elected because in the privacy of the voting booth, people would not be able to take the leap of faith to give a person of color...a chance. And I thought that many quiet, staunch Republicans would think that their personal worth [$$] would diminish. They would be the Republicans who regardless of the ineptitude of their choice of leadership still defended his decisions. They could not say that 'the emperor had no clothes.'
In the past eight years, there were incredible happenings...that really happened!

• the hanging chads and the Supreme Court deciding the previous election

• the wiretapping and changing of Constitutional directives to suit their plans


• the horror of the response to Hurricane Katrina


• the war...Halliburton, the troops' lack of proper equipment, the lack of an exit strategy and the faces of my friends whose sons and daughters were sent back to Iraq for more than one tour even though they were due to be released because they had finished the time that they had signed up to serve.


• the oil industry with a quarterly profit in the billions of dollars while families were struggling to make ends meet. [the greed and lack of conscience]


• allowing the banking industry to self destruct and then choosing to have the country bail them out. [giving loans to illegal aliens, and unaffordable loans to millions of citizens]


• the inability of George W. to speak intelligently causing a major lack of confidence in his leadership


• the government, in general, for allowing bills to be loaded with pork...why they couldn't just pass or veto the one thing on the agenda is beyond me.

Now, a brand new start is on the horizon. A man who is educated, willing to lead the masses in an effort to bring our country back to what it once was...respected, prosperous, under control [as stated in the laws and amendments to the Constitution]. The fact that Obama is willing to invest his time, energy, and family to this daunting and overwhelming task ahead is laudable. In the campaigning months prior to the election, I was impressed with his demeanor and self control when responding to all of the questions and demands of the press and the people. He certainly grew up with challenges that could have overcome his direction and purpose. There were times that he was not sure what direction he was headed for, yet managed to educate himself and make pathways for the future while being raised by his grandparents. He is not perfect. [Neither was George W or George Washington, for that matter!] He will not please all of the people all of the time...But I'm thinking that he has the ability to inspire, unite, and hopefully begin to lead us out of the many messes that we are currently struggling with all over the planet.

I watched the television coverage of the election's results as our citizens, as well as people of different countries around the world heard the news. It was huge.
So, all I am saying....is give him a chance. Judge Obama not by the color of his skin, but rather by the content of his character. [Martin Luther King,Jr. would be proud!] I always did think that particular excerpt [where MLK makes reference to not judging his children by the color of their skin ]from the "I Have a Dream" speech spoke volumes!

Change is difficult. Can we be a part of the solutions, and not keep a scorecard of every nit-picky detail [like whether or not he is wearing a flag pin on his lapel]?!

Yes we can. Yes we can. Yes we can!

And if you can't...would you please follow that golden rule taught to us by our mothers....

If you can't say something nice....just.....