Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Yes We Did

I feel odd. Nothing has changed and yet nothing will ever be the same.

I can’t think of any other word than ‘unbelievable.’ This is unbelievable.

I feel like I can tell my children they can be president if they want to and mean it this time more than ever.

I feel like the words, “the content of his character” mean something today that they never have before.

I can’t stop singing “Do You Hear the People Sing” in my mind. “The music of a people who will not be slaves again…”

My cousin in Spain says that international opinion about the United States has changed literally overnight.

I don’t ever remember being inspired by a losing candidate’s concession speech before last night – McCain was wonderful.

I actually heard the announcement from John Stewart on his live show just before 10:00 central time.

That’s right, I learned that our nation had made history from The Daily Show. Perfect!

Barack Obama said that his victory alone is not the change we seek, but only the chance to make that change. I happen to believe that his victory is a symptom of the change that is already happening.

This morning, everything has changed. I am just amazed by what we are witnesses to. We live in a country that actually had to amend its constitution to affirm that black people were worth more than three-fifths of a person, and now a man of mixed race is going to be the president.

Unbelievable. That’s all I’ve got – unbelievable.

14 comments:

saggy69 said...

We will have to wait and see. No matter who had won nothing would have been the same. Yet in four years we will still be trying to fix the same things. It has been this way and will remain this way till we the people take OUR Gov back and make it work for us not for it/them. I read how they have already started gathering the bills they would like to get passed after he enters office, and that was reported on CNN. Have you noticed that he already back off his plan to raise taxes. Who knows what will be next. I remember when Clinton was elected everyone thought the same thing as now. But yet here we still are with the same problems. Russia released today their plans to move weapons in place to counter our deffense weapons. Funny how they waited till today. My prayer is that Obama will allow himself to be guided by Gods will for his life and our Country. I am proud of the strides our country has made by electing a president of color and I believe soon we will have Lady in the white house as president. My hopes remaine high, but the missouri in me says show me first then I will believe. Call me Thomas that's fine, because we're not talking about Christ. This is next presifent of the United States and he has made a promise to the people of the Nation. The feelings of the people was for the world to see when that one lady leaving the polls said I don't have to worry about making my house payment, putting gas in my car. I helped him and now he will help me. It just makes me wonder what it is he will do to make that happen. I guess we will have to wait till the next election to see how great this was for the Nation. Just my thoughts. God Bless

Anonymous said...

Andy:

Congratulations to President elect Barack Obama and his supporters. I voted differently, but trusting in God’s sovereign rule, I just can’t get worked up. God is in control. He knows what He’s doing and where this is going. No social change is going to create spiritual change one way or the other.

I hate to take exception on an otherwise positive post; but for the sake of accuracy I respectfully submit the following:


We live in a country that actually had to amend its constitution to affirm that black people were worth more than three-fifths of a person,...

With all due respect, you may wish to delve back into a history textbook. The "three fifths of a person" clause is one that has been poorly understood and thus misconstrued by many from racists to Jesse Jackson and Al Gore as well as many other individuals. The three-fifths clause was not a measurement of human worth; it was an attempt to reduce the number of pro-slavery proponents in Congress. By including only three-fifths of the total numbers of slaves into the congressional calculations, Southern states were actually being denied additional pro-slavery representatives in Congress. One of my favorite heroes, Frederick Douglass, a former slave and abolitionist saw the clause as a powerful anti slavery provision.
I hope this helps.

Respectfully,
Joseph

Anonymous said...

Addendum:

I forgot to mention that the three-fifth clause applied to slaves only and not to free blacks at the time.

Best,
Joseph

Boomer53 said...

"Yes We Did"-We finally (hopefully) looked beyond the color of a person's skin to see them as a person of value created in the image of God. I feel like we are entering a new era-perhaps Camelot 2?? We have a chance for a new start, but President Obama can't do it all himself. As saggy69 said, we must take OUR government back. The only way we can do this is to all work together for the changes that we know need to be made without regard to political parties, religion, race, etc. I hope we can make a fresh start now and begin to shape our world in the way that God intended-to live in love, peace, and harmony with all mankind and all of God's creation.

Seamhead said...

Yes, we can. We have only begun. The hard work is still ahead. But this elections represents great hope and wonderful, new opportunity. I hope we can.

Andy B. said...

Thank you Joseph, but I understand the historical context of the 3/5 clause. My idea was that slavery itself is a "measure of human worth," and so my rhetorical device works to make my overall point.

Anonymous said...

I would like to first say that I believe most all of us voted from our hearts for those candidates we felt would promote change that supported the positions we each have on those issues most important to us – the middle east, the economy, government size, and those other hot buttons that we all have.

Next and I hope this does not invoke a firestorm; I would like to ask as question. Was this election for the selection of President about whether or not the US could or would elect a black man? The aftermath of comments that I have heard from our media, the international media, the conversations at restaurants, in the workplace and in the waiting room of a hospital seem to have a focus of surprise, “gotcha”, can’t believe it, etc. If all I did was listen to these comments, opinions, and attitudes, I would come away with the belief that Barack Obama was elected because of race with no consideration of what he will bring to the position. I hope this is not the case, but for me it has the appearance, and it saddens me that this may be promoted as the reason for Barack Obama’s win. I now want to refer back to my first statement.

And an unrelated comment - If you run for President Andy I will want to know your position on 4 issues (you probably can guess at least 3 of them) before I will commit to working on behalf of your campaign!!!

Diana

Anonymous said...

Andy:

Unfortunately, I am not that talented to divine one's intent; I can only comment on what I have read. What you wrote was factually incorrect; the Constitution was not amended "to affirm that black people were worth more than three-fifths of a person". In posting such, you continued to propagate a distortion of history and our Constitution. The election of President-elect Barack Obama is historically significant, but there is no need to embellish the past to make his election appear more significant than what it already is. Period.
I sincerley apologize if my previous comment came across in a lecturing (I thoguht it would be in poor taste to reference "preachy") tone. Even when I re-read my comment, I had a good laugh at my expense about consulting a "textbook", knowing that most people today utilize Google and/or Wikipedia. :)
As with any opinion that I offer on your blog my intent is in the spirit of Proverbs 27:17. Thank you.

Best,
Joseph

Anonymous said...

Did they vote for the man, or the color of the man? You be the judge.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DViWsmEHsbEs&h=80b33e8afa1c879c9b344810a4f9cac1

Anonymous said...

I have heard from many people who say they voted for the man and not the color of his skin. And I am with them on that point. I can truthfully say that I forgot about his race when I heard him speaking and heard about his beliefs. And I make no apologies for feeling a bit euphoric at this time. I know there is much to be done and the president-elect will now have to prove himself. I believe that he will do a much better job of that then anyone else who has had the office or been considered for it for the past 8 years. May God bless him and his family and keep them safe.

cb

saggy69 said...

I agree, God keep him safe. It's sad to say, but we still live in a world where some will not accept him as their President. He will be my President and I pray he does great things so my family stays safe and our needs (not wants) our met. Your wants should be left up to you, but if you are in need then I believe you should recieve help.

Andy B. said...

I make no apologies for feeling a bit euphoric at this time.

Neither do I, cb. Thank you for putting it that way!

larryepke said...

And will the state of Missouri PLEASE decide who it voted for?! It's been almost a week and still no call for your state. Come on - people have wagers to decide here!

(I'm being a bit humorous - our department has a contest for who called the electoral vote closest to the correct number and we can't give the prize until your state comes in!)

Anonymous said...

For Larry - Here in MO we have been told that we voted 49.7% McCain and 49.5% Obama.