Opportunities Lie Ahead

Do some Good.

The energy lightened in the United States last week. Tangibly. On November 4, as I walked home from work, the sunset over Lake Erie was one of the most beautiful I'd ever seen. It wasn't necessary for me to watch the results, I knew. I knew Barack Obama was destined to be president. Not just because of his tenacity, but also because of the tenacity of voters.

U.S. citizens should be very proud of themselves for protecting their right to vote this election. Our last two elections may have been stolen from us, and we have been approaching fascism. Many volunteered at the polls to make sure Americans' votes were protected. When poll workers turned voters away because they were at the wrong site, a fleet of cars was available to take voters to the correct location. Lawyers volunteered at every site to resolve any discrepancies onsite.

For my international readers, I would like you to know that the majority of Americans are opposed to the war in Iraq. Yet, we were rendered powerless during the last administration.

The current foreign policy and its over- zealous attitude toward "terrorists" is bordering on witch-hunting. In the last eight years we have lost civil rights, and these must be regained, otherwise the terrorists have indeed won.

WTF? He looks like robocop! Who exactly do we need protection from? This is an example of one of the many armed forces in the United States. Frightening isn't it? Was this guy protecting the citizens of the U.S? No, we was watching a small peaceful group of homosexuals exercising their constitutional right to assembly. The U.S. is dangerously close to becoming a military state. It seems we did not learn the lessons of Eisenhower.

Americans are not complacent, nor lazy (after all most of us work 50 hours per week and never take vacations). They are afraid - and with good reason. However, we need to set aside our fear and recreate our beloved America.

The only people who didn't lose jobs in America during the Bush administration were cops. One night a friend and I were counting the number of armed forces that we knew of. City cops, state cops, county cops, FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security, CIA, Secret Service, Department of Treasury..... I know I'm missing some. Then the universities have their own police forces, the RTA has its own police force, the metropolitan housing agency has its own police force. Yet, any time I have ever needed the assistance of the police, they never came.

What's the point of all of this? The point is Obama cannot do this alone. We must help him.