Wonder, awe, apprehension
Re “It’s Obama,” Nov. 5
It is fall, but it feels like spring. How else would one characterize what we have not just witnessed but brought about?
With our election of Barack Obama, we say that we really are ready to live up to that creed long ago enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, “that all men are created equal.”
With our votes Tuesday, we signified that while we value and prefer private initiative, we also recognize the role that government plays -- and how important it is to have in place properly organized and manned monitoring agencies. With the level of voter turnout Tuesday, we demonstrated our realization that allowing fear and cynicism to grip us only encourages those who pursue ends contrary to our collective, long-term interest.
We can make it a long spring if we, as a people, become more proactive and do not allow ourselves to forget that we are part of a community. It is in our own self-interest to synchronize, as much as we can, our ends with our neighbors’.
It truly feels like spring.
Victor W. Monsura
Garden Grove
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I am a 38-year-old black male. For all my life, I have considered myself an American. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, for the first time, I am finally convinced that America agrees with me.
Brian Thompson
Signal Hill
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I was just overcome with a flash of realization. My children, if I am so lucky to have them, will not know a world in which a black man could not hope to obtain the highest office in the land. My children will not understand how momentous this is. It will be normal to them.
I am wise enough to understand that this is not the culmination of a long struggle but just another leg of a journey. This does not end racism and discrimination in this country. But it is proof that even despite that, the ideals our forefathers set forth in our great and beloved Constitution ring truer and louder than ever before. I have always loved my country. I have always believed in the ideals of this country. I have not always been proud of my country. But today my heart swells with pride.
I am proud of everyone who did all they could to fight for Obama. I am proud of everyone who stood in long lines to cast their votes. I am proud of this country. I am proud to witness history.
Tanaya Burnham
Los Angeles
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Last night, John McCain showed true statesmanship in his concession speech.
Last night, Obama brought true hope for the future of our country. At long last, we have a president who will unite us in one union.
Over the last eight years, I lost faith, trust and pride in my country. Last night, it was restored by both Barack Obama and John McCain.
Edward J. Hieshetter Sr.
San Diego
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I was in Los Angeles on a Fulbright exchange when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were shot in 1968. Hope was assassinated for millions of Americans.
As Obama becomes president, hope is back. “My” America is back too. I share the emotion and the sense of history that I see on so many faces throughout the country.
Roland Faure
Serres sur Arget, France
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Election results: All Americans 1, “Real” Americans 0.
Michael Smith
Tarzana
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I would like to thank George W. Bush for his eight-year campaign to elect Obama as his successor. No one contributed more to the Obama effort, and now his tireless actions have been rewarded.
Too bad more than 4,000 American men and women had to die in Iraq, and countless Americans lost their savings because of a deregulated banking system, but at least they have not died or been wiped out in vain.
A new day, with a brilliant, compassionate man at the helm of our exquisitely flawed nation, has dawned.
John Hallenborg
Redondo Beach
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I am in mourning this morning because political correctness, redemptive liberalism and youthful ignorance triumphed over logic and reason in the presidential election.
Let’s be honest. Obama, with virtually no experience and no record of legislative accomplishment, was elected only because he is black and liberal.
Any white candidate with a resume as thin as his and similar ideas about redistribution of wealth would have been laughed off the stage, no matter how well-spoken he was.
Likewise, most of the people who voted for Obama would never vote for a black conservative candidate, no matter how experienced and qualified he was.
Obama’s policies, all of which have been tried before and failed, are not new and do not represent change, but rather they are a naive vision of how he believes things should be, instead of how things really are and have been proved to work best.
I am hopeful that his political pragmatism will keep his socialist ideas in check and prevent harm to our country.
James B. Davis
Beverly Hills
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Today, for the first time in my adult life, I am afraid to be an American.
Charlotte Sale
Placentia
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The welcome addition of a person of color to our long list of white, male presidents adds variety, but not the diversity that many are claiming. If Obama wears a dashiki to his inauguration, then I’ll (gladly) eat my words, but then many of his supporters would feel betrayed.
Obama’s rise to prominence has been one of assimilation. Gay marriage, indeed the whole “melting pot” character of American culture, is evidence of the same sort of thing. Ethnic traditions are lost. True individuals are still out in the cold.
What we have is a coat of many colors, an improvement over our monochromatic past. I’m still holding out for a complete wardrobe, garments of all types, colors and fabrics, hanging together.
Gerald Jones
Los Angeles
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The American public has spoken strongly with a singular voice as we embrace Obama in a new spirit of hope. Now it is our patriotic duty to work together to support his policies and save our great nation from the immense crisis we face.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress must join together to meet this extraordinary challenge. There is no time for special interests, or partisan dissent and division. We must stand tall and proud, united as Americans first and last.
Michael A. Alvarado
San Jose
