President Obama

Four years ago I had lost faith in the American people. I couldn't understand why they were content with a leader who carried them into an unjust war, which clearly has been a major factor in the current economic crisis. Millions of dollars were wasted, lives were wasted, all for the unmerited fear of another 9-11, a "demoractic responsibility" to other nations, and to keep a hold on oil so refineries can still process record profits. My indignation of the last four years has especially been with the right-wing religious agenda. This base has no right to judge the personal decisions of Americans. Generally speaking, conservatives advocate less government, but yet they want regulation in the lives of homosexuals, the pro-choice community, evolutionists, or anyone who doesn't view the Bible as law. These individuals have every right to feel this way, but I believe they're wrong. As much as I believe that slavery was morally wrong, so to is Biblical literalism when it is used to promote a political and religious agenda.  As much as my mother and father's Catholic faith teaches them to believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Son of God, I believe that I am morally right in rejecting and speaking out against such a doctrine as Biblical literalism. 

But four years ago ended last night, on November 4th. The American people have spoken, and many individuals like myself  are looking forward to the new direction of our country. In watching Barack Obama rise to the Presidency, I have never felt as patriotic, as privileged to be an American, as I did last night. I was confident that he would win, but as the last 8 years have shown, you can never be too sure. There will still be those who will not let go of their beliefs, regarding religion, abortion, sexuality, race, etc, and that's fine because everybody's entitled to their beliefs. But I'm just grateful that our country will now have a President who will not let these issues get in the way of leadership and governing. I thought McCain's concession speech last night was honest and appreciative, and I was not at all surprised by how he handled it. Conversely, Obama's victory speech was very telling. Not surprisingly, he was very humble, but he spoke as a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. And one who exudes confidence and comfort with his new found responsibility.