obama

"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."
President Obama

So i guess it was about 2-3 years ago i was sitting in my quiet little house on August Circle at 4 pm watching Oprah, like i do everyday at that time, when i was introduced to a young senator from Illinois by the name of Barack Obama. He was there to talk about his book "The audacity of Hope," and while i dont remember what he said that day, i do remember the feeling i had watching him. I remember thinking, now that guy has it. He has that "thing", it radiated from his pores and flowed in his voice. He had that "thing" that made me, almost, audacious to hope.
I sit her today in a new world, in a new America. In an America i actually believe in, for the first time in a really, really long time.
Denton and i had only been togehter for a little over a month when Gore "lost" the election to Bush. We sat on my couch and watched, our relationship growing, over those few weeks when we really had no President. Fastforward 4 years,I am sitting in a hospital room holding my son, as Bush won yet again. I remember saying to Denton, "can you believe he will be 4 years old when we finally get Bush outta the White House." And finally today that day has come, and i have never been so relieved to see a man board a helicoptor in my life.
I am not going to sit here and bad mouth Bush, he stood up after 9/11 and tried to patch this country back together, and for that i will always be grateful. But everything he did after that, from Katrina, Iraq, and Gitmo; well i would just as soon not discuss. I stood by him because he was the leader of our country and i supported the troops although i felt it was not the right fight. Today is not about George Bush, he has taken up enough of my time.
Today for the first time since just after 9/11 i feel a real passion for my country. I feel a pride and a sense of togetherness. I hope that people who did not support Obama can stand behind him, hope with him, and help us change this country.
So what is it I see when i look at the face of our new president? I see a family man besotten with his daughters. A father who thinks of his children when making decisions, a man who will not take lightly the effect of our changing world on his girls. A father who wants to teach his kids to not expect for things to be given to them without giving something back in return. A man who thinks that all children deserve a decent education and a positive start in life. I see a man so in love with his wife that he just has to touch or kiss her whenever they are together. I see the glances and smile, I witness the laughter and love that radiates between the 2 of them. In him i see her strengths as well. I listen to the stories of how they met and it seems so real to me. It could be the love story between any man and any woman, not the tight lipped love of someone as unaccessable as the President of the United States of America. I see a man with a vision of a world he thinks he deserves, that we all deserve, where the color of our skin or any of the other prejudices we can create for one another are washed away, because really, who needs all that. I see a a leader who does not want to just accept things as they are, but someone who really wants to fix things that are broken, and find a new way of retooling America. I see a man who thinks that all Americans should have the basic fundamentals we all are deserving of, a job that can pay the bills, a future after we retire, and affordable healthcare for every American.
So tonight I will lay my head down on my pillow and go to sleep in a quite different world than the one i woke up in. I will have a little more pep in my step, and a little more pride in my heart. And yes, a little more Hope that change can, and has come to America. And i can rest just a little easier knowing that Texas is once again complete, for the village idiot has returned home........