Classic Jon Stewart

I stand applauding -- absolutely classic.

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Aretha!

This brought tears to my eyes. What a historical day. Still can't quite wrap my mind around it all. We seem to have come a very long way in a heartbeat. Its as if we all suddenly blinked, woke up - and America grew up at last.

Let freedom ring.

The speech

Inaugural speech given by 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, January 20th, 2009:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

The oath

Justice Roberts! Good grief! All you had to do was read the oath so that Barack could repeat it back, sentence by sentence! (In other words -- you hardly had any lines - and you got to take your notes on stage! How could you muff that?)

I don't know, may be he was nervous... Obama covered graciously, they got through it.

Next time we hold auditions for Chief Justice, might want to ask he or she to read this the presidential oath of office as part of the congressional audition.

Massive crowds welcome Obama to the people's house

I have never seen crowds like this... or such unabashed joy in Washington! How I wish I could be there... I would love to be freezing in that crowd with the rest of America. There must be millions there to witness history today. There appeared to be millions there already as the sun rose.

We shall be free! Its a great day to be American.

We shall be free!

I woke up this morning with Garth Brooks' song "We shall be free" bubbling up from somewhere in my subconscious; probably stuck in there since the concert at Lincoln Center Sunday.

Inauguration day! We shall be free!

How interesting that of all of the performances at the Lincoln Memorial Sunday, it was Garth Brooks' choice of songs that lingers... it is so fitting for today.

We shall be free!

A few more hours and the nightmare government is over. Then months, likely years of clean-up.

Many people will lose their jobs, and many more may lose their houses.
Many people will experience hard times, fear, and worry.
Many people will have trouble heating their homes in this frigid winter, and an many more will have a tough time buying food.

Many people will look to our new president for quick solutions... but there won't be any quick fixes this time. Our coffers have been looted, and the thieves have (so far) gotten away clean.

But one thing we do have... we have our government of the people back! We have hope. Bush and Cheney can't hurt us any more.

And at 11:59 am this morning... we shall be free.

Backstage at the Lincoln Memorial Concert

The Lincoln Train

Obama is a history buff! Not only a history buff... a student of Lincoln. Pinch me... this is going to be about as much fun, potentially, as the last eight years have been horrific.

President-elect Barack Obama rode in to Washington on a train, very much like our sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln, with one rather dramatic difference: Lincoln was in fact smuggled through Baltimore on a different train than the one for which he was listed as a passenger (Maryland was pro-southern secessionist at that time and there was fear for the newly elected president's safety.)

From the Washington Post:

Aboard the Inaugural Train - On the final leg of a two-year road trip, Barack Obama rode into Washington on Saturday in an antique caboose with the contented look of a man convinced he was arriving at his rightful destination.

A slow-rolling special Amtrak train carrying the president-elect, his family and his closest friends and advisers departed Philadelphia at noon and pulled into Union Station 6 1/2 hours later. It was part of the journey that will take him to the White House, and for Obama, it was a day to be savored. He spent much of the 137-mile train ride, with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters by his side, staring out the windows at a vista of supporters who waved and chanted his name.

Bundled in winter jackets, they gathered along highway overpasses, icy lakes, Little League baseball fields, cow pastures and neighborhood cul-de-sacs - all to catch a glimpse of the man in the 1930s-era blue caboose as the train rumbled by. Firefighters stood on their trucks to take pictures; schoolchildren waved handmade signs. Three times during the trip, the train slowed and Obama stepped onto the rear platform to wave at shrieking onlookers and blow the whistle.

It appears that this time, Maryland is on board.

The soon to be 44th president rode from Philadelphia to D.C. on a train, making whistle stops along the way... wowing the crowds and television viewers alike.

I'll leave you with this video (I'm looking for the speech he gave in Philly; I saw it live on TV and it was exceptional.)

For now. I'm tired, relieved... and ready to be happy for awhile.

Lincoln's 200th Anniversary Year

Nearly lost but not forgotten in the changing of the presidential guard is the long anticipated (especially in the three states that claim him) 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

This Bicentennial is receiving even greater attention on the national stage in part because our president-elect shares our reverence for Mr. Lincoln, and intends to draw upon Lincoln's willingness to listen - and his genius - when crafting his own strategies for reversing our nation's downward spiral.

I have heard it said repeatedly of late , by scholars and talking heads, that President-elect Obama faces a challenge unlike any seen by an incoming president since the national challenges faced by both Lincoln and FDR. Thankfully our next president is a student of history and plans to study the policies of our two greatest presidents... men who were not simply presidents, but national leaders.

What would Lincoln do? Who is our Lincoln? If he were dropped into the White House today, to face the perils that Obama will tackle, how would he go about it? Perhaps I can finally get to the point of this blog... now that the Evil Empire is on the verge of collapse.

Are we still a Republic? We swear allegiance to the flag 'and to the Republic for which it stands.' Does that Republic - and democracy - still stand? Or have we now morphed into a giant, greedy corpocracy hell-bent on looting our public coffers to further the bloated weath of the powerful elite?

Most who ask this question - the 'corporacy' question - are immediately labeled 'liberals.' I consider myself an Independent and a moralist. I manage to disagree equally with many liberals and conservatives alike, and then again agree with just as many others, depending on the issue. This is not a question of ideology. This is a question of democracy. It is time to hold a mirror to our national face and determine who and what we are today.

Recently Mr. Obama's transition team set up a website that accepted questions from the general populace. The top question - above even the dubious bailout - indicated that the American people want to know if there would be any sort of reckoning for the outgoing administration, and if a special prosecutor would be assigned to the task of determining whether war crimes were committed.

I agree with President-elect Obama that we need to look ahead and not behind. Who we are today was forged over many modern administrations. However the last eight years have seen changes in this country and its national face - the ideology that it shows the world - which mark a direct change of course from who we have always believed we are. America does not torture... yet our soon to be ex-president freely admits now that he allowed torture, in spite of the fact that it violated the Geneva Conventions.

We cannot be the nation we claim to be - a beacon of hope and democracy for the world - and not address what our government has become in the last eight years. Our works have defined us. Any behavior that is 'un-American' must be abolished, and any crimes that have been committed must be punished -- for the sake of our 'national soul,' our relationship with other nations and all future generations.

There is a very real danger that any crimes left un-punished will emerge again to haunt the next generation. This has already happened. By pardoning Nixon and closing any further investigation into Watergate, President Ford opened the door for Rumsfeld, Cheney and many others from the Nixon Administration who went on to form the backbone of the Bush Administration. They learned early that there were no real consequences for those in the highest levels of office. Basically if you could find a way to bend the government to do what you wanted, you could be king. No one would stop you, and no one would punish you.

When we as a nation refused to really pursue the Iran-Contra corruption, we left the door open once again. We are adverse to holding our highest level officials accountable to their oaths of office... or perhaps I should say that the people we elect to represent us are adverse to making waves among their peers (they appear to feel that they have more in common with others in government than with the great unwashed masses.)

President-elect Obama plans to involve us in the national dialog. This should be refreshing after eight years of being locked out of the people's government. I'm quite sure it is what our forefather's intended, and what Lincoln recalled in the Gettysburg Address when he expressed his hope that the 'government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.'

But along with moving forward, we need to finally do something about where we have been the last eight years - not in any spirit of malice or revenge, but simply to guarantee that the door is firmly shut this time, and this reckless law-breaking behavior cannot happen here again.

Does that nation 'of the people, by the people and for the people' still exist?

I believe that it does. We managed - against rather impressive technological odds - to elect a man to office that we felt would represent us -- not the establishment. We shocked the world, and perhaps now they finally realize who we - the actual American citizens - really are, and can differentiate us from our current government. We've been held hostage the last eight years. We are not our government.

We made it clear, when asked, that we expect the Bush Administration to be investigated. This must be done. It doesn't have to take center stage. But it must be done.

There is an excellent essay in The Nation about 'Our Lincoln.' It starts out with a strong and matter-of-fact treatment of Lincoln in his time: his attitudes towards slavery and race, and his dilemma when forced to choose between his heart, and the specific wording of the Constitution.

Abraham Lincoln has always provided a lens through which Americans examine themselves. He has been described as a consummate moralist and a shrewd political operator, a lifelong foe of slavery and an inveterate racist. Politicians from conservatives to communists, civil rights activists to segregationists, have claimed him as their own. With the approach of the bicentennial of his birth, the past few years have seen an outpouring of books on Lincoln of every size, shape and description. His psychology, marriage, law career, political practices, racial attitudes and every one of his major speeches have been subjected to minute examination.

Lincoln is important to us not because of his melancholia or how he chose his cabinet but because of his role in the vast human drama of emancipation and what his life tells us about slavery's enduring legacy. The Nation, founded by veterans of the struggle for abolition three months after Lincoln's death, dedicated itself to completing the unfinished task of making the former slaves equal citizens. It soon abandoned this goal, but in the twentieth century again took up the banner of racial justice. Who is our Lincoln?

The article speaks to Lincoln's approach to the subject of slavery, and shows how his views came to change and grow over time. Lincoln's great strengths included the ability to think deeply, listen to many opinions... and his willingness to change. May President-elect Obama carry on this legacy - this willingness to think deeply and respond to the reality of the times - and thus ensure the continuation of democracy in this nation.

Robin sums it all up

What a president looks like

In case you've forgotten (I very nearly had.)



Our long, national nightmare is almost over... for that I give a hearty thanksgiving!

Zydeco Obama!

Cajuns for Obama! (Boy, I wish I was eating that food right now!)



French lyrics:

Oui On Peut!
Oui on peut - sauver notre pays
Oui on peut - reprendre notres vies
Oui on peut - changer notre histoire
Oui on peut - vivre dans l'espoir
J'ai un rêve pour mon pays
Que on peut marcher ensemble
Et notre promesse de liberté
Peut vivre pour tout le monde
Pour faire cette grande vision
Il y a seulement juste un homme
Notre prochain président
Qui s'appelle Barack Obama
Pour quitter l'ignorance
Et arrêter les contes
Et faire vivre le grand pays
Que on voudrait pour nos enfants
Oui on peut - sauver notre pays
Oui on peut - reprendre notres vies
Oui on peut - changer notre histoire
Oui on peut - vivre dans l'espoir

Translation:

Yes We Can!
Yes we can - save our country
Yes we can - take back our lives
Yes we can - change history
I have a dream for my country
That we will all walk forward together
And that the promise of liberty
Will live for every one of us
To achieve this grand vision
There is only one man
He is our next President
And his name is Barack Obama
To leave ignorance behind
To stop the fairy tales
To bring life to the great nation
That we all want for our children
Yes we can - save our country
Yes we can - take back our lives
Yes we can - change history
Yes we can - live in hope

Election night for the Obama family

Spontaneous celebration in D.C. election night

I can't really tell where this is... the Washington Mall? The guy who filmed it didn't keep the camera very steady (shades of Blair Witch!) but its a great gauge of the excitement. Wow.

Lincoln speaking from the grave

I was overwhelmed to hear the timeless words of Abraham Lincoln deftly woven into President Elect Barack Obama's speech Tuesday night in Grant Park.

Not once, but twice, Obama reminded us first that 'a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth' and that 'we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.'

Lincoln's words. Lincoln's dream.

Now today, as Rahm Emanuel accepted the position of chief of staff in Obama's new cabinet, he too expressed appreciation and even reverence for Lincoln's great eloquence and foresight:

It has been almost 150 years since Americans turned to a proud son of Illinois as their President. Early in his first term, Abraham Lincoln said, "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.

Today, once again, our country is piled high with difficulty, and Americans have put their trust in President-elect Barack Obama and Vice-President-elect Joe Biden to think and act anew. And Mr. President-elect, I promise that your White House will do everything in our power to rise to the occasion.

To finish that thought: "We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our nation."

Yes we can.

Harlem erupts with joy for Obama

Indiana University-Bloomington celebrates

The world reacts

Crowds celebrate outside the White House

PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA

Redemption for a nation, unity for all!

The Dream

"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed."

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

"I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with."

"With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true."

"And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California."

"But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring."

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Hey Martin... Hey Jesse! The dream came true today!

Let freedom ring!




I cannot even express in a blog - there are no words - for what it means to see voters of Indiana flood in record numbers to the polls, and cast their ballots in favor of Barack Obama. This state hasn't turned blue since 1964. This is a traditionally red, conservative state -- the most reliably red of all of the red states in the nation. It also has a long dark history of Klan activity.

Today... we have overcome our racist past.

I can't help but notice that the Midwestern demarcation of the Mason-Dixon line is back. Indiana has rejoined the Union. Once Indiana farm boys proudly fought alongside Ohioans, men from Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan. We fought against slavery. The Underground Railroad ran right up through this state.

It makes my heart proud to see that the state of Lincoln's boyhood has once again remembered its proud pre-Klan history and embraced diversity and the highest democratic ideal of freedom for all. We are all Americans now. Together. And maybe soon we can once again be a nation undivided, healed and once again made whole. We are well on our way!

There will still be some pockets of racism, fear and hatred. But the majority of Americans - including Hoosiers - have responded to Barack Obama's message with a resounding "YES WE CAN." We have overcome our racist past. Surely anything is possible!