Ask Not What Your Country Can do for You

Hello everyone,

Last night we elected our first Black president. That says a lot about the growth of a country that within my lifetime was fighting just to give black folks the right to sit at a lunch counter with whites in the South and now has voted a black guy into the most powerful position in the country.

This is history and it is important. Accordingly I'm getting a lot of comments about the election and I understand that but like I said I don't discuss politics and I don't get into the back and forth about it. Oh, don't get me wrong. I am educated on the issues - I read voting records, know how many votes these guys missed or made, their percentage of voting this way or that along party lines and all the rest of things most people don't do. And, of course I vote. (I won my first judicial election by only 6 votes so you know I know how important that is) But I don't campaign or want to discuss this guy versus that guy (or gal ) or this policy versus that policy here. People get rhetorical and angry about that stuff and no one every changes their mind no matter what the other person says. And that's not what I do. I am writing this because I don't want you to think I don't care or don't read your comments but I have a direction and mindset here.

Instead I'd like to say this about being an American:

1. I think that the 2 best things ever said by American presidents are: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" -Kennedy and "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" - FDR.

2. I hope every president we have does an extraordinary job regardless or party or color or gender. They do well - we do well.

3. No one man is a savior so don't set anybody up for failure by expecting him to fix everything. He can't do it alone nor can he change everything right away. Nor is all change good. It must be well reasoned. (You can mess up the good stuff while trying to change what you don't like if you're not careful.) And sometimes even then - who knows? We are an immediate gratification culture and real meaningful and helpful change takes time. Likewise we are a culture that tends to point to someone else and say "they need to do something about this" (review my Kennedy quote) We must do what we can to make things better. We can't expect the government to do everything. Personal responibility is a law of the universe that never gets repealed.

4. Guys who supported the winner should not gloat and those whose guy lost should not be angry. No matter how this shakes out we are now in this bad boy together. Hang on to your ideas, no doubt, but be open to learning and engage in effective and constructive - not divisive or venemous - disagreement.

Having given my ten cents worth about this I'm done. I'm not looking to have a political discussion on here. Lot's of places to express political ideas on the net. MY interest on this site is personal improvement, positive thought and the occasional joke.

Work hard. Love well. Laugh as often as possible.

Peace