In the beginning

This is not the end. This is only the beginning.

But congratulations. Because that is all that can be said at this point.

Barack Obama has won the presidency of the United States of America.

Celebrate now, but do so in the full knowledge of the task that we face.

Obama is black man and a good man, and the best choice the American people feel they could have made at this moment. But he is a man.

What have we done? We have elected a politician. Obama is a consummate politician. Look to his career if you have any doubt. He makes decisions from the most basic to the most important that are designed to make him as appealing as possible to as many people as possible. In hindsight, for some it must feel like there was never any doubt once he won the primary that Obama would be our 44th president.

But we have elected a compassionate politician. The choices that Obama has made have been in the best interests of the people. That's really the rub...Obama is a well-off, well-to-do family man with solvent assets and what can only be considered a good job. He can afford to be a man of the people.

Obama is a proponent of a big government. Under his administration, especially in light of the new senate majority and the way the wind blows, the government will evolve and take a more fundamental control of the people's well being than we have seen in decades, if ever. But from what we know of Obama, we have developed a faith that he will be a just leader.

What we are forced to ask ourselves now as a nation is what we are looking for as citizens.

We have elected Obama in full knowledge of the amount of control that he will take over our lives perhaps out of a sense of fear. Or penance. We have suffered mightily under the Bush administration, not as much in fundamental ways such as hunger or invasion, but perhaps in the loss of the majesty that was America.

We have elected a new hero. By electing Obama we are relinquishing much of the sporadic control over our lives that was awarded us by the Bush administration with what ought to be trusted and good.

We can hope that he will listen to us. We can hope that he will move in a direction that we want to move in. There's good evidence that he will. This is an optimistic step and there is a chance the dancing in the streets is warranted...for a night.

And we are not saved by this. We must work harder than we have worked before, especially us, this generation coming of age. We are the government. We are the government. We are a nation, and we have the chance to advance our country.

Have us make advancement.