We knew he was bright, impressive even as a work in progress, but now we know Barack Obama is a true genius. There are multiple forms of intelligence, and embodied in this man are surely most of them. He evokes passion in a way we've not seen since John F. Kennedy. He is vivacious in mind and spirit, a family man, who reaches out beyond lines and labels, past offenses of the past in service of the future. To him, we all matter. And so he is not a man for the times but a man crafting our times - for the better.
By his side is Joe Biden, a man of sincerity, depth, and commitment to his state, his commuter train companions, his family and all of us. In his understated way, a compliment to the President-elect, this man of great accomplishment and sensitivity is like an able, purposely imperceptible hand that grasps the anchor of a mesmerizing kite, helping it to soar, to twist and dazzle -- to transport onlookers if even for a precious moment -- but not too high or too far from the designated course.
These are two men who will err at times, but they have captured our hearts, our minds, and our imaginations. In so doing they have altered our futures by giving us this memorable moment in time when promise abounds.
Dr. Reardon also blogs at bardscove.
Months Before the Iowa Caucus, two of my neighbor’s had all their time and faith invested in Obama’s ability to win. At the time I taught my neighbors was crazy, because I never heard of Barack Obama before. I became an inspired ardent fan the night I watch the Iowa victory speech, wow. What a journey it has been since then. It’s Clearly a NEW Dawn in America and around the world.
The obstacles that he faced getting elected require him to be a remarkable leader. Call it a process of political selection.
In no way do I mean to diminish anyone's religion, but President Obama is president because of hard work and good timing. If America is to rebuild itself, it will be because of hard work by us, the American people. Thank whoever you like for the opportunity, but we must seize that opportunity ourselves, and make what we can of it.
Our country. Our responsibility.
We were getting nowhere with out "no, we can't" attitude - no, we can't get off foreign oil, instead we have to invade Iraq, kill hundreds of thousands of innocents, and secure what's left of other peoples' oil for ourselves. No, we can't fix health care. No, we can't do anything about global warming. No we can't forge ahead into the future, we have to cling to the past.... the list is long.
No, we can't, no we can't, no we can't. That is what happened to the American psyche over the last 8 years. Ask Dr. Phil where that attitude will get us.
When Obama came along and said "Well, wait a minute, actually, yes we can" not just America, but the world erupted. And then Obama proved that anything is possible by getting the most unlikely candidate in history elected to the highest office.
When faced with so many challenges to our existence, the words "Yes, we can" are more than a breath of fresh air. They're the bootstraps we need to pull ourselves back up. Of course we wanted to hear them! Of course we'll get to work and get it done! We're Americans, and that's what we do. We get it done. But we'd forgotten.
he has the most liberal voting record of any senator in the senate. his positions are borderline marxism or worse and his terrorists associations are more than disturbing, they are criminal. his associations with the anarchist Rev. wright are particularly disturbing since this maniac has been brainwashing obama for the last 20 years.
I am embarressed for the school to read your comments about our President and current leader of the free world. Apparently you never learned what makes a leader, what makes you a marxist, and who associates with actual terrorists. Your concern with a Reverend never heard of prior to the media frenzy of a short while ago over true maniacs who have millions of listeners like those mentioned above have definatively hurt our nation and contributed to the obvious dumbing down of our country no matter where you went to school.
It's amazing. Without the disaster that was Bush-Cheney, I don't think we'd be looking at President Obama today.
It's amazing. Our nation is so very lucky to have him (and thanks again Illinois and Iowa! It wouldn't have happened without you!)
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The moral of the story is: Electing the best PERSON is far more important than electing the best WOMAN.
Let's all be grateful that you, Erica Jong and Gloria Steinem didn't get your druthers this time around.
Hillary will be fine as SecState, and other women will emerge as future POTUS material in the coming years (and no, I don't mean Sarah Palin).
I have no problem with those who supported Hillary because they honestly believed she was the best PERSON for the job. But from many, including you, Erica Jong and Gloria Steinem, the essential arguement was that she deserved our support because she was a reasonably well qualified WOMAN.
We should never, ever make our choices on that basis. We should never ever support a candidate for POTUS because of gender, or race, or religion or anything else pertaining to his or her identity. It degrades the process and divides the country needlessly.
In his acceptance speech, Barack quoted the Apostle Paul, saying that we needed at last "to put away childish things". Identity based politics are just the kind of childish things we all need to put away, once and for all.
I have one chid - a daughter - and I look forward to the day that we will see a woman in the White House just as much as you do, for just the same reasons. But neither she nor I want to see a woman elected because she's a woman...anymore than I wanted to see a black person elected because he is black.
I encourage you to go back and review the columns you wrote during the primary season, in the light of what I'm talking about