Tiger and Obama........

I was very confident that Obama would win - but there is always that nagging doubt that when faced with voting for someone so different that people would take the safe bet and vote for the old white guy instead of the young, smart, charismatic mixed race boy. Things sometimes change inside the voting booth.

But thinking back to yesterday I was stuck by the fact that really, hasn't Tiger Woods already desensitized us to all this stuff?

Can't we all agree that a mixed race boy can be the deliverance of at least two old white men institutions?

And what greater old white man institutions are there besides these two: The country club and the white house?

Tiger Woods, just a few years ago kicked down the doors of the country club with skills and nerves and performances that completely rewrote the rules of the game. A little black, Thai, son of a green beret that my green beret daddy used to play golf with in Bankok. Now crowned as the greatest golfer that not only ever lived but the greatest that may ever live.

Now this.

I'm very proud of the American people for beliveing in something bigger than all of us. Daring to hope that we can change the course of our way in this world. Belief in Hope that we can make our society better for the working man so once again, the workers in our factories can live in a house and not have to depend on government programs just to be able to keep their heads above water.

Socialist talk?

Bullshit.

That's good old fashioned Christian talk.

When my son was born in 1985 it costs $2000 which was a lot of money back then but nothing like the $20,000 it costs today. In 1985 you got 3 days in the hospital and today for 10 times more money you get one night.

Dependent insurance used to cost me $28 per week. Now it's $550 a month.

Is it a wonder that someone making $12 an hour can't make ends meet?

Is it a wonder that no small business can afford to provide insurance for their employees?

Is it too much to ask that we have a health care system that works for everyone?

I don't know the answers - but I know the questions..............

And for the first time, I heard someone asking those questions in an honest forum with a hopeful attitude. I heard him remind us how hard it would be and how some problems may not be solvable in a manner we would like. But I also heard him say that the effort is worth it. The exercise of pulling our country up from the depths is a noble thing and it is WORTH IT!

I'm tired of this attitude of fear of loss, which is where we've been for so long now.

We are so scared that we're going to lose "something" that we're able to rationalize "anything".

We want to be in control so much that we're willing to take our ball and go home if everyone doesn't do what WE want them to do...........

We must wake up and recall that respect is earned and never given just because. It is earned and we have not earned any in quite a while.

I'm tired of the partisan bullshit - the us vs. them attitude that permeates the hate-mongering right wing radio programs.

John McCain was extrememly eloquent last night in his concession speech asking everyone to move forward and let's rebuild America in our own image - all the while people were booing because they are truly filled with hatred for Obama.

I can't figure it out. I missed something somewhere. What's wrong with giving it your very best and then when it's over - realize that you freakin' lost and you lost for a reason. You lost big. Really big. And the reason is that we need to be different than we were yesterday.

I just pray that our new president will be given the mandate to make some changes and that the partisanship that has endured since the republican revolution of 1994 will be put in the closet where it belongs.

I pray that we can get back to the place where you truly can reach across the aisle and shake hands and mean it when we say that we came to the best compromise we could and everyone is satisfied and moving towards the common good instead of pointing fingers and calling names.

So I'm not ashamed to admit that I had tears streaming down my face this morning as I drove to work. I feel like the world has caught up with me for a change and that all that surrounds me can be healed as I was healed by the love of an amazing woman.

So hope is abundant in my heart.

And if you want to take pot shots at me today, come on - I can take it!

Yea, I'm pretty damned happy.

Peace.