VICTORY

Obama won the popular vote, the electoral vote, and is bringing with him clear majorities in both branches of congress. He did so with with vision and the ability to articulate and present that vision in such a way that bright, effective, and energetic people flocked to his campaign in an unprecedented way to build a grassroots operation adept at registration, fund-raising, and delivery of the vote.

He did it with white, brown, black, youth, senior, rural, city and suburban voters. He accomplished it with victories in so-called red states. He did it with honesty, decency and humility, despite the Republicans' shrill and snarlingly mean attacks of outright lies and misrepresentations and attempts to foster fear and mistrust.

He did it because he is we. We have forever changed the course of American politics and altered the course of history. Four decades of conservative ascendancy are stricken down. We have turned our backs on religious fundamentalism dictating the national agenda, and the neo-conservative plan for American empire, and the neo-liberal economic theory of unrestrained, deregulated, flow-up capitalism.

Bush once claimed a mandate, he was wrong. Today is what a mandate looks like. This is a mandate from "We the People" and, as with all elections, there will be consequences.

No longer will conservatives be able to sandbag, stymie and frustrate progress. Obama will appoint people of vision, of progressive outlook, and of decency to administer the bureaus and offices of government, he will call upon the best and brightest among us to set right four long and dreary decades of wrongfulness.

Sadly, there will be those who will deny, attempt to impede, and froth with hate because the era of selfishness and greed is over. Oh yes, the selfish and greedy will remain, and some will slip in and do some harm; but, by-and-large, hope has replaced hatred, vision has replaced ideology, decency and co-operation has replaced destructive, mean-spirited, self-centered individualism. Certainly the sulkers, the pouters, and spoiled brats will persist and continue their tactics of fear and divisiveness. It will remain for us to expose, confront, and marginalize their destructive, and selfish negativity.

Yes, it will take time, and there will be errors and mistakes...and, certainly unimaginable crises and near unmanageable challenges, but we will prevail.

Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson each had their critics and controversies. But, each managed to persevere and move our wonderful country forward, and to preserve our democracy, and to secure the blessings of liberty for ever more of us, rather than the select few. Obama will do no less!