CONGRATULATIONS TO BARACK OBAMA, FUTURE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

Today is the first day of a new, inclusive America, where all people are, finally, created equal.

Thank you, Mr. Obama, for standing strong, for understanding that we the people are tired of division, of name calling, of
petty distractions when there are serious issues at hand to be undertaken. I don’t know how you have withstood the
enormous pressure. I can’t even imagine. But I can guess, and it makes me respect you all the more.

And if Hillary becomes VP, then I can, truly, stand behind that statement that all people are created equal because my gender will be included
in new ways of political achievement, as well.

Certainly, these are exciting times!

However, to me, this race to the White House isn’t about whether a woman or a black man can become leaders of this country—
although it is a historical moment for all Americans and way past time that these momentous achievements were met!—it is about
the person of integrity and grit, resolve and intuitiveness, the person who can surround themselves with people of like-mindedness and, yet,
allow that same group the ability to also share different ideas without fear of retribution or needing to support an over-inflated or
weak ego.

For me, it is about SERVING THE PUBLIC, the grand astonishment of a person recognizing the weight and humility of their appointment, the possibility
to create the greater good for not only Americans, but for people the world round. Old ways of thinking have created hostility and corporate greed,
war, destruction of our earth’s environment, the loss of private farming, the loss of jobs, the mass construction of a web of human slavery (including here
in the United States, yes; it may be invisible to most, but it is epidemic and beyond our recognition), education woes, the loss of family time (much of this created
by American families wanting more and more, thus working more and more to pay off incredible debt, so less time with family, thus less influence and
time with children….and for those of very low income, no opportunity to spend time with their children as they are working harder for less,) a crass
ability for politicians to mishandle and/or pocket tax dollars that we appropriated for public use, the problems of mass transportation, the dependency on
oil, and the secrecy of the Bush administration and it’s plethora of lies and torture. This administration has hammered our Constitution beyond recognition by
igniting public fear and changing laws to suit it’s own desires.

So, my hat’s off to you, Mr. Obama. You recognized and voiced that there is change that needs to happen. I’m sure you understand that there are many things inside the Oval
Office, and many people, that will come rushing at you like hungry, crazed lions, but if you keep your head on straight, and surround yourself with intelligent people, you will
survive and you will become wise. This is a time of enormous change in the world, and you are the tip of the iceburg, but remember: we Americans are behind you, the rest of the
giant crush of sea ice underneath, and we are so starved to believe in someone, to have a leader that remembers he must lead and do the right thing, the moral thing, because, otherwise,
it is more of the same, and we will split from you in anger and disillusionment. Take this chance and go all the way, Mr. Obama. Be that change you have voiced.
Be more than just the words of change, be that change.