Our Voice Now

For anyone who has been following the election and the months since, never before in history has a President-elect been looked to for answers and leadership than Barack Obama has been.  And, as he keeps reminding everyone, there is only one President at a time and he is not President yet.  Never has a President-elect had to do that!  What does that say about the last eight years?

Yet, even as America, it’s new leader and it’s people move forward, it seems to Ultra-Conservatives (aka as the Fundamentalists/Extremists of the Right) are trying to hold us back.  The likes of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are still out there whining and pushing intolerance and hatred.  Sarah Palin is still complaining that Katie Couric used ‘gotcha’ journalism on her.  Wow, Katie Couric?  Imagine what Palin would have gone through if a true hard-edge journalist had interviewed her?

To be clear, I am more conservative, but a moderate conservative.  I was raised in the Baptist denomination for the most part, believe in Creation and am still very involved in my church and the community (now the United Church of Christ however).  What I see in Obama is not just the first black President and let’s shove it in the faces of the moronic racists.  No.  Obama is merely a small part of what is going on here and it’s a shame that this nations own extremists (who are no different than Muslim extremists that we have labeled as Terrorists) refuse to embrace the massive leap forward this nation is finally taking - albeit these conservative extremists will, in fact, lose their power and control and that is no doubt what they fear the most for the good of the average person was NEVER part of their agenda.

As I watched the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial today it was very clear that this is much more than about a new President.  This concert, and the celebrations to come, are for the people of this nation who have worked so hard, whether it be in the last few months on the campaign or their entire life fighting injustics, to bring us to where we are today.

This is bigger than I think any of us can really realize right now.  The power has been given back to the people.  It is *our* turn to take the next steps to make this country the best it can be.  Now is NOT the time to sit back and say ‘oh, I did my part. I worked on the campaing, I voted so now it’s up to Obama’.  No.  Now is the time for ALL of us to get out there and say “I did my part to get this country going in the right direction and I must continue to do my part because one man cannot do it alone”.

What if Rosa Parks never refused to move?  What if Martin Luther King never stepped out from behind the pulpit and spoke to the nation, simply accepted the injustices?  What if women never stood up to their husbands and demanded a right to vote?  What if blacks and whites alike never marched through Montgomery, deciding it was too much effort and wouldn’t result in anything anyway? 

So the next time you start to complain that this nation isn’t doing enough for the poor and homeless and struggling stop and ask yourself what have YOU done to help?  Have you taken a few hours out of your day per month to go serve food to the homeless at your local shelter?  Have you taken the time to take your slightly worn clothes to the local Salvation Army or have you opted for simply throwing them in the trash because it’s easier?  Have you taken one weekend out of your year to help build a house with Habitat for Humanity?  If the answer is no to these questions, do not blame the government or the President for it all starts at home, with each and every one of us.  NOW is the time to start that change. 

And for those who have complained that Obama’s inauguration events are costing too much and he should have scaled it back because we are a nation at war and with an economic crisis I first ask this, did Bush and the conservative extremists scale back in 2004?  Not one bit.  Secondly, this is far more than a celebration for Obama - this is a celebration of US!  A celebration of what can be, what will be and that above and beyond all else, we are a nation of people who have far more in common than different with each other.

For those who couldn’t have been bothered voting this past November just remember this. Starting Tuesday at noon, you no longer have a right to complain about anything that Obama or Biden do over the next four years.  Don’t vote?  Don’t complain.  If you couldn’t be bothered to take half an hour to even write in a vote if you didn’t like the two choices then you freely gave up your right to complain.  Harsh?  Not at all.  For all the women and men of all colors who died to fight for our right to vote the least you can do to honor them (your parents, grandparents) is to exercise your right to vote.  What a disgrace it is to the honor and memory of all those who gave up their lives for that.  Shame on you.