By-Tor.com

I'm sorry to say that I spoke with someone about the inaug yeaterday who was upset about "all these blacks -- they're everywhere."

I didn't vote for him and won't vote for a man based on the color of his skin. But I won't vote against him for it either.

And I am glad to see that we have come so far as to vote a black in this high office. I know that for our nation's history it is huge. People were still being told to step off sidewalks even during the early lives of most of us here.

I'd like to see an indian in the office (yeah, Elfie, I'm in agreemewnt with you about how you'd like him to be) because I think it would be great fun to see this great nation which has never had someone who is largely descended from the first people to live here ruling it have an indian as leader. It would be historic and not slightly ironi that it is so long into our history happening.

What I dream of most, though, isn't this minority or that special group getting a person in as president. It's having a president I can be proud of, who doesn't play politics as usual, who is a real man of character, who puts men of integrity in as his cabinet, who doesn't give a rip what the media say about him, who doesn't grow the government, who goes back to the constitution for policies, gets rid of unconstitutional programs and laws, who whips Congress into shape reminding them and, indeed, all government employees that they are SERVANTS, and who sets the example behaving as one.

Oh, and I'd LOVE to see him start the new tradition of not treating the President as royalty.
*geds off soap box*

My only answer to that would be that Gramma was from a different time and place. Odd to us, normal to them.

I'm glad to have this time and place. The racism I've seen is not close to what my mom saw and that was better than what came before her.

They can go drown in a mudhole.

Who?

Racism isn't dead, especially in the south. As I said before, the latest generation will look at us and our parents and grandparents with ever-squinting eyes, wondering what in hell we mean when we talk of racial differences and the atrocities committed against those who weren't born white. It will take those in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc., a decade or two longer to catch up to the north for some reason, if history is any kind of gauge.

After all, dad had exchanged gunfire in WW2 with those "dirty Japs" and he didn't seem to mind the idea of my brother being interested in one. So why was grandma so upset about it?

Perhaps it is because your Dad faced his fear, head-on with a rifle, while Grandma's fear was rooted deeply in the unknown in her time. My grandma was the same. In fact, the old girl (when she was a young girl) lived with her parents in the south on a plantation, and, you guessed it, had slaves in the fields, albeit, freed slaves and generations of their offspring who stayed to work after being liberated. She wasn't averse to using the "N" word from time-to-time, which would cause anyone around her who was young to admonish her for her ignorance, prejudice and fear.

What I dream of most, though, isn't this minority or that special group getting a person in as president. It's having a president I can be proud of, who doesn't play politics as usual, who is a real man of character, who puts men of integrity in as his cabinet, who doesn't give a rip what the media say about him, who doesn't grow the government, who goes back to the constitution for policies, gets rid of unconstitutional programs and laws, who whips Congress into shape reminding them and, indeed, all government employees that they are SERVANTS, and who sets the example behaving as one.

Well, if that is true, your dream seems to have come true.

Yesterday he announced a salary cap on people in his cabinet. He is certainly a real man of character, whether you agree with all of his policies or not. In his address yesterday he used your words. He reminded his government and all of us that he and they are SERVANTS, and it is a privilege to serve. He is, right out of the gate, setting out to tackle, one-by-one, all of the seemingly impossible things he spoke about while campaigning. He said to anyone out there, Rep or Dem, if you have an idea bring it to me. If it is better than mine or what is there presently, we'll go with yours.
I'm telling you, I think that finally we have the genuine article working for us.
So...
So far - so good.

Perhaps it is because your Dad faced his fear, head-on with a rifle, while Grandma's fear was rooted deeply in the unknown in her time.

A few years after the incident I described, I asked dad once what he thought of inter-racial marriage. When I was three we moved into a very white area so this was something I didn't see much.

Dad told me about being sent into Japan after their surrender. He played with the children, hung around the people, and remarked that it would be easy to fall in love with a Japanese woman (dad had grown up in a very white area himself). When I was born we lived in the DC area and dad was surrounded with black co-workers. He told me that had he been single, it wasn't hard to imagine himself falling in love with and marrying a black woman. People are people. It seemed to me that before MLK had made his "I have a dream" speech my dad had already come to his senses in judging by charcater and not by skin color.

He's a good guy.

He reminded his government and all of us that he and they are SERVANTS, and it is a privilege to serve.

If I remember correctly, all incoming presidents make that speech. But I'm glad our new president is no exception. The folks in Washington need to be reminded of that over and over again.

Yep, now do that to the Congress and Senate......................and make them pay taxes. Just like the rest of us schlepps.

That would be some change there.

If the democrats are all about unity, why did the peanut gallery boo and
ridicule Bush before he even sat down on I-Day?

You have to admit, that gesture wasn't a very good example of "unity"
right from jump street, and Obama didn't seem to have a problem with it
either.

But, to be fair, Obama will grow and mature. The fringe will neverrrrr be
silenced, so the best we can hope for is for them to get laryngitis.

ElfDude wrote:The folks in Washington need to be reminded of that over and over again.

***sighs at generalizations and knows there are good people performing
good service to the Nation in DC as well***

***Is fully aware that only a few abuse their political position,
entitlements and/or status***

CygnusX1 wrote:
***Is fully aware that only a few abuse their political position,
entitlements and/or status***

Maybe I'm just jaded. But lately I've felt that it's the other way 'round... that only a few DON'T abuse their position.
However, I'm referring mostly to Congress and the Senate.

ElfDude wrote:

CygnusX1 wrote:
***Is fully aware that only a few abuse their political position,
entitlements and/or status***

Maybe I'm just jaded. But lately I've felt that it's the other way 'round... that only a few DON'T abuse their position.
However, I'm referring mostly to Congress and the Senate.

I know you're only referring to politicos, but many non-political people
serve the Nation in DC too.

I'd love to expound on it, but I have to go back to work - lest I be
accused of abusing my position as well.

See ya

CygnusX1 wrote: I know you're only referring to politicos, but many non-political people
serve the Nation in DC too.

Oh yes indeed. The Pentagon! That's SERVICE, man! I love those guys.
There are plenty of departments I admire. I'm just sick of congressional corruption. And the State Department. I'm not so crazy about those guys either.

Big Blue Owl wrote:

What I dream of most, though, isn't this minority or that special group getting a person in as president. It's having a president I can be proud of, who doesn't play politics as usual, who is a real man of character, who puts men of integrity in as his cabinet, who doesn't give a rip what the media say about him, who doesn't grow the government, who goes back to the constitution for policies, gets rid of unconstitutional programs and laws, who whips Congress into shape reminding them and, indeed, all government employees that they are SERVANTS, and who sets the example behaving as one.

Well, if that is true, your dream seems to have come true.

Yesterday he announced a salary cap on people in his cabinet. He is certainly a real man of character, whether you agree with all of his policies or not. In his address yesterday he used your words. He reminded his government and all of us that he and they are SERVANTS, and it is a privilege to serve. He is, right out of the gate, setting out to tackle, one-by-one, all of the seemingly impossible things he spoke about while campaigning. He said to anyone out there, Rep or Dem, if you have an idea bring it to me. If it is better than mine or what is there presently, we'll go with yours.
I'm telling you, I think that finally we have the genuine article working for us.
So...
So far - so good.

It does look like he is doing some of this, but I still don't like that he wants to appoint a man who didn't pay a large amount of taxes (lack of integrity) nor that he wants to grow the government.

I want it all, but I'll take what I can.

If the universe is everything, and scientists say that the universe is expanding what is it expanding into?