Free at Last

I have been up and reading blogs from around the world on what today means to people! I thought I was excited before. I have not been so excited about a new president taking office since John F. Kennedy.

And there were a lot of similarities. My mother was Democratic Precinct Chairwoman and we lived in a decidedly Republican neighborhood. All our windows were broken out of our car one night. And it became so uncomfortable to attend Girl Scout meetings I stopped attending. One of my best friends belonged to a church that was afraid that electing a Catholic president would turn our country over to the evil pope. So she ceased to be a best friend because her mother verbally attacked me all the time. If I could have stopped going to school I would have.

It is a shame when the politics of division effect even school children. And that among all the wrongs I can contribute to GW Bush was his worst: He totally divided the United States into Red states and Blue states. For the last eight years I was afraid to even admit I was a Democrat or, heaven forbid, against any of his policies. If you were not with him you were a terrorist or in league with the devil.

So when Barack Obama takes the oath of office I am likely to be shouting: "Free at last, Oh, God we are free at last." To oppress any group of people for whatever reason also oppresses the oppressors. All the energy gets taken up with finding the enemy and keeping them down. I think I have been most uplifted by the crowd scenes with blacks and whites and all races and creeds shoulder to shoulder elated at seeing our 44th President of the United States. I am proud of people freely expressing their opinions at last. By polls that show that regardless of party or religion we are behind our new president.

I am so proud of our country at this moment. Especially since the last eight years were designed to make this moment impossible. We have been bombarded with a campaign of fear and hatred and division. And to ruin the spirit of a people is worse than ruining its safety, its economy, its self worth, its reputation around the world. Because of that I vote GW Bush the worst president this country has ever had. And I am happy to state he has failed.

We are free at last. Free to hope and dream and work toward a common goal.