Thursday, November 8, 2012

Forward

Every great political figure has an opposition which history has not looked kindly upon. President Barack Obama is an historic president, not simply because of who he is but what he has done. Healthcare, abolishing don't ask don't tell, getting bin Laden, saving the auto industry, etc. These are watershed events in our nation's history and they all happened on his watch. No president has ever done anything like that in a single term. With his re-election, the country is on the right side of history.

That's why I was so proud to wait on line and vote for him Tuesday morning. I would've done that even if I hadn't gotten power back. President Obama's detractors talk about "taking the country back," but this country is always moving forward. We don't look like George Washington and our Founding Fathers, we don't talk like them, or dress like them, or eat the same food as them, but we all are Americans. This country was flawed from the begining because of the original sin of slavery and the disenfranchisement of everyone but white males. Yet the Founders were forward thinking enough to recognize that society changes. The Bill of Rights is not a ceiling, but a floor which we build upon. 

A black man was re-elected president with the most racially, ethnically, religiously diverse voting block in American election history.  For the first time, the people of a state voted for marriage equality while previously it had only been through legislatures where it has passed. Yes, there are always steps backwards, but there are also always two steps forward. That is the beauty of America.

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