Speaking With . . .™

The vast majority of the United States as well as the rest of the world  applauded enthusiastically when Senator Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America. Our President continues to work diligently to fulfill his promises to our nation, including to reach out to [citizens and elected officials] of both parties. As we the people and our elected officials continue to cite the Pledge of Allegiance, a precious promise to our beloved nation, at ball games and numerous other events throughout the years, we also continue to hear and see behaviors that have robbed our nation of some of the richness we could have experienced.  The richness that comes when people embrace each other. Across racial lines, across political lines, across gender lines… On November 4, 2008, our nation and the world saw this country embrace with a breadth and a strength and a level of unity that we had never displayed before.  We decided that it was imperative that our nation be taken in a different direction. We agreed that we needed a tangible reason to hope for a brighter future. We came together to elect the man we believed had that same desire and the ability to make the decisions that would lead us into the new era that is so badly needed.

There remains one problem, though. There is a minority of the country who never wanted Barack Obama to become president for any reason. This group continually criticizes our president on every hand, deriding him for every  failure, real or perceived, while refusing to make honest acknowledgements about his successes or efforts.

It’s unfortunate that our nation continues to be divided by race, politics… It’s great that so many of us continue to embrace each other, our president and the many people who are assisting him on Capitol Hill and at the White House. This said, it’s interesting to note the similarities that typified our nation’s political and social climates at the time the Pledge of Allegiance was written (1892) and now. Division with hostility was prevalent then as it is now. Hopefully, those of us who sincerely desire to honor the words of our pledge to our country, the Republic for which our flag stands, will continue to strengthen our bonds with each other. Maybe over time, as President Obama continues to strive to lead the way towards a more united America that is stronger economically and academically, some of our citizens who have chosen to hate and disparage will eventually have a change of heart and move closer to embracing our president and those of us who are hoping for the best as he leads our nation and reconnects with the rest of the world.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 6:29 PM and is filed under This Week's Guests and Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.