And the world cheered with us

Barack Obama's election as our 44th President not only has been hailed by minorities in this country for offering them hope that they can dream and dare to be anything their heart desires, but it is also being hailed around the world. Our standing in the international community has been severely damaged by the Bush administration's disastrous policies and arrogant attitude. But now we have someone coming into office who is willing to adopt a far more conciliatory attitude to where even Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has offered his congratulations to Obama on his victory, practically unheard of, given the recent antagonistic attiude toward Iran that the Bush administration has adopted. I think we can rest easy now that Iran won't be bombed into submission and that the Middle East war won't be expanded into that country. It bodes well for the future in that troubled part of the world that we have an intelligent, thoughtful and scholarly man about to become our President who is willing to talk to our enemies rather than cut them off. For sure, any negotiated peace in the Middle East won't come easy. The creation of a peaceful and sovereign Palestinian state will have to be the key to starting the ball rolling in the quelling of Middle East tensions and being willing to talk to Iran and to work with Iraq to end the war and bring about a stable government of some sort will also have to be priorities. But it's so nice to know that the US will no longer be adopting some kind of hard line antagonistic stance against the rest of the world. We will have a President willing to be open to dialogue with both enemies and friends and who will be welcome by world leaders as a new player on the world stage who has the intelligence and thoughtfulness to listen and learn and weigh his decisions with great care. No more cowboy politics. No more white hats and black hats, no more good and evil, good guys vs. bad guys. Sure, the international challenges facing Obama are steep ones, a massive mess created by a bunch of NeoCon radicals bent on imperial military power to keep the world in line, but I trust that he will surround himself with wise advisors who will guide our young President to careful and thoughtful decisions that will restore our lost international luster. It will be good for our country to once again become the beacon of hope and liberty that it has been for so many for so long. I want to feel proud to be an American, and today, I do feel just that way. I want to sing, shout, dance in the streets and cheer our new President like I've never cheered anyone before, because overseas, foreigners are once again waving American flags instead of burning them and celebrating Obama's victory along with us. If that isn't a reason to feel proud today, I don't know what is.

UU CHURCH "GAL'S NIGHT OUT"

On Sunday after church, a bunch of us from the Unitarian Universalist Church went up to Cleveland for Obama's final appearance in our area before Election Day. We piled into a friend's van and then drove to another friend's house and piled into her SUV and drove up to Cleveland to the rally. Those of us who attended were, from L to R, Noah, Kathy (mother of Noah), Chris, Jill, myself, Vivien and Saunis. This photo was taken by a security guard at the Midland building in downtown Cleveland on our way home from the rally. We thought it'd be appropriate to have our picture taken in front of the American flag, given the historic occasion that we had just attended. The crowd of 80,000 was as diverse as you could have hoped for - black, white, Asian, Latino, Native American, old, young, gay, straight - you name it, we were there. It spoke highly of the coalition of people who were coming out to support Obama and I had a feeling that the fact that his appeal could cross so many lines was a good sign that he just might win this election. That Ohio went blue for the first time in a number of years is an excellent sign that we have a President of broad appeal in what has largely been a very conservative state in recent years. I am heartened by this fact but I also know that the economy was strongly on people's minds as Ohio has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in recent years and it's strained our state economy as well. People put kitchen table issues first instead of stupid divisive issues like gay marriage and abortion, which the Religious Right have used very successfully as wedge issues to divide this country. I didn't hear people speaking of these issues at the rally. Mostly, they were concerned about their homes, their jobs, their children's futures and other middle class concerns. That seems to have drawn the 80,000 or so of us to hear this remarkable candidate to Cleveland on Sunday night. Even when the skies opened up and it began to rain, we did not leave but instead stood outside in the chilly night air to hear this amazing man speak to our hearts about what matters the most to us, and thank goodness, we delivered Ohio for Obama and put him over the top to become our next President!