Last night a seminal event occurred in this great country of ours. For the first time in American history an African American, Barack Obama, was elected President of the United States. One cannot underestimate the significance of this event. What happened here last night was a dream fulfilled. A dream had by one of America’s greatest and inspirational figures, Dr. Martin Luther King. A man who preached the quintessential American ethic - that a man not be judged by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. Last night that is exactly what the great American people did.Let it never again be said that Americans are closet bigots. They are not. They are a fair minded people who do not look at skin color.
Barack Obama is a man of great character. He is a patriot. And he is an inspiring figure unlike any other public servant since JFK. We Americans have a right to be proud of what we just did - all of us including those like me who did not vote for him.
The American people have spoken. They have chosen a man who does not seem to share my own political philosophy. If I were to have chosen an African American to be the first President, it would have been someone like Thomas Sowell or Shelby Steele. But they weren’t running.
We the American people – all of us – owe him the right to govern as he sees fit. My hope is that he will govern from the center and not from the left.
As of now President Elect Barack Obama deserves our full support. He has a clean slate as far as I’m concerned. We will learn more as he begins to choose those who will serve him in cabinet posts and other executive branch positions.
His job will not be easy. He has inherited a seemingly insoluble economic crisis and two wars. May God grant him the wisdom to lead this great nation and the free world. May he be given the wisdom that will provide peace, security, and prosperity at home and abroad. And may he continue to inspire and lead America and the world to great new heights.
