After 8 long, difficult, arduous and exhausting years with "W" holding the White House hostage, I can once again utter the word "P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T" as it pertains to a current Commander-In-Chief. The word simply escaped me during the Bush reign, and I could never bring myself to recite the appellation in front of "W's" name. The only way I could use it before a name was in reference to previous President's such as Clinton, Carter, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Lincoln...well, you get the idea.Today we watched history being made as Barack Hussein Obama took the oath of office of President of the United States. How significant it was that it occurred the day following MLK Day. Befitting a person of President Obama's character. As a previous but ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton, I was still in dissents corner - as most people know - in transferring my political support to Obama, but I did it when she asked her respective supporters (18 million +) to support Obama. Long having gotten over that self-enforced barrier, I did get on the Obama bandwagon. It was satisfactory to hear that Hillary was hand-picked by Barack to be Secretary of State. The best decision he has made in my opinion by far. Especially if he was to gain total and tenacious support from her supporters over to his camp.
Living in Midland, Texas makes it a bit difficult to be Democratic due to all the Republicans who reside here, but their naiveté or gross negligence (mostly the latter) makes it sweet to be contrite especially when the left is right and the right is just plain wrong and amiss. It feels awesome to be Independent or Democratic here. In stating this, I have been witness to the most disrespectful and ignorant political viewpoints imaginable when it pertains to citizens of these parts. Their terrible views stemming from the right but mainly from the fundamentalist right who have always sided with "W" no matter what wrongs he was doing. Whether he was chiding NATO's request to wait for a solidarity vote of all its members prior to invading Iraq, then starting a war with a sovereign nation, , to illegal wire-tapping, to ignoring the Geneva Convention, to publicly denouncing the torture of possible political enemies and probable terrorists yet, in the meantime - behind closed doors, the torture was occurring as was confirmed by Susan J. Crawford. Crawford is a top official in the Bush administration overseeing the military trials of terrorist suspects held at the U.S. prison in Cuba. Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden remains at large.
Sara and I drove to the Midland International Airport today to video record the airplane which was bringing "W" back to Texas. The very plane which only bears the official name of Air Force One when it carries the current, sitting President of the United States. Since "W" is just a citizen like any one of us, the plane is simply referred to by its tail code (28000 or 29000). Anyway, we were always in awe of the plane and the logistics behind it, and we always wanted to see it in person or as close to it as possible. We set out this late noon to await its arrival at MAF, but not to see "W" and surely not to wait along the roads for a glance of his motorcade, but simply to record in digital format, this magnanimous & important airplane. The moniker of Air Force One was dubbed during the Eisenhower Presidential term.
As we sat in the SUV at the airport, we were disappointed and taken aback by so many "W" supporters who still believe him to be a hero. Home-made signs which assumed he did a terrific job and thus bore positive remarks and welcomes to this man who created so much havoc. The 3 "D's" still come to my mind as they did the day the Supreme Court "selected" him to be President, they are...debt, destruction and death. No matter how long this man waits for history to find any good outcome of his administration and the long 8 years they supposedly served the citizens of this great country, he will never get vindication or approval of a job well done. He left so much turmoil for President Obama to over turn. President Obama can turn things around ("Yes, he can!"), but it will take all of us to pull together to get it done. Unlike his predecessor, Obama welcomes us all to come together to set things right. "W" was one of the most polarizing figures in history, not just in this country's history, but of all time. His unofficial motto of 'if you are not with me, you are against me' was very indicative of the mandates set forth by one Adolf Hitler. "W" implied that any opposition of his leadership was unpatriotic. How pathetic. It is our history and the wars we (Americans) fought which have given any citizen the right to agree or to disagree with the president. This does not make us communists or unpatriotic, matter-of-fact, it makes us more patriotic as we take advantage of those hard-fought rights. Let us remember what President Roosevelt once said in regards to patriotism...'Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.' Or my personal favorite quote of his...'To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918)'.
So as you move into private citizenship once again, "W", remember those quotes and remember everything you did was not always for the betterment for the whole but for the betterment of the few. Mainly the rich few. Your cruelties, your atrocities and your lies will remain with you until the day you pass on and you shall carry those burdens with you and no atonement will absolve you of the ill wills done during your watch. Whether you choose to remember your political sins or to acknowledge them on a daily basis, they will remember you and they will haunt you and your cronies. The citizens of this country will remember them as well and they will hold you accountable forever. History will not be good to you, dear sir. Shame on you for stating that you did your best, how you liberated over 50 million people or how you leave the office in strong belief that you did your best.
Leave the best for the current administration who certainly does bring a much needed change. It brings a renewed spirit and a reaffirmation of a government who once again cares for its constituents, its citizenry. Together with this administration we can make a difference and get this country back to the top as we show the world that we are a caring nation and a responsible nation. We will fix the wrongs that "W" left and continue to move forward in a positive light. A new wind blows through this great country. It blows a loud but refreshing air and it sounds off the great possibilities which are yet to come if we all follow President Obama's motto...
"YES, WE CAN!"
Bravo...my sentiments exactly. MLK Day certainly felt much different than in years past. The dream Dr. King referred to in his famous speech finally came to fruition after almost forty years later. The swearing in of America's first African American president has come 146 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Truly amazing. What, exactly, does this mean for the rest of us? It means that standing up for your principles, even when you stand alone, is worth it. The women and men who struggled and fought for civil rights certainly embraced a vision they knew would someday be embraced by all Americans, regardless of race, gender, class, religion, or even sexual orientation.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, I have high hopes for the Obama administration. Though, initially, I supported Hillary (and still do), the fact that this country has made history with the election of America's first African American president gives me hope for other milestones still to come. With having just observed MLK Day, the Civil Rights Movement became the topic of discussion. This movement sparked other movements: the women's liberation movement, the Chicano movement, and the gay rights movement. As a woman who is Hispanic and a part of the LGBT community, this year's inauguration has given me hope that someday, I will be able to have what every American has now--total equality. The time has come for America to live up to its ideal of equality and embrace diversity. Gay rights ARE civil rights and this includes the right to have a legally-recognized marriage.