Now the Work Begins

We have had a real celebration in Washington, DC and now it is time for us all to get to work. The size of the task is beyond my imagination. There was a cartoon in El Pais (the newspaper of record here in Spain) yesterday that shows Obama giving his speech on TV and a group of gangsters (read corporate crooks, the "defense" industry, the "health care" cartels, etc. etc.) laughing their collective eyes out. These forces are larger than our government and they are international. How can our law makers and the Obama administration deal with these forces to make the changes that will save our way of life? It will take collective action on the part of a large percentage of the citizens of this country to even begin to make a dent in the forces that confront us.

This is NOT the time to be a Democrat or a Republican. This division has been used for many years to divide and conquer us. It is time to be citizens, with all the responsibilities that that implies. I'm not going to favor everything that Obama does. He has already taken actions that show he is not a secure lefty, even though he signs his name that way. I'm going to have to grit my teeth many times, but the issues are so large that we must support him so long as his general direction is toward honesty, transparency, and support of the citizens of the US and the world. We just want a reasonable way of life, security in our homes, a decent education for our kids, and reasonable care when we are ill. We must become a country devoted to the rule of law again. We need to repudiate the policies of those who have trashed our Constitution.

This week I am proud to be an American. When we go into local shops here in Spain they often congratulate us for electing Obama. They smile at us much more than in the past. We are viewed as fellow human beings, not the enemy. There is a reservoir of good will for Americans that has not been evident in recent years. They understand that we are really all in this together and we all succeed or fail together. They appear ready to give us another chance to do things right. Now it is up to us not to miss this chance. The eyes of the world are on us.

As I sit here in this little bar I am being greeted with a smile by the numerous old men who spend their days here. They come in and have a coffee or a beer and play cards and talk. They greet us warmly and say "until tomorrow" when we leave. It is good to call the US my home again.