Congratulations to the United States of America

I know this has been written about a million times this week, but my uncle wrote some sentiments after the election that I thought were spot-on. I am posting them here.

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I am proud to be an American today. I am proud that this nation could rise above its past and elect a person of color to the presidency of the United States; I am proud this nation has soundly rejected the mean-spiritness of the last eight years; I am proud that my countrymen still believe in the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's second inaugural address, and Martin Luther King, Jr's 'I have a dream' speech. I am proud we have rejected the fortress mentality and brutalism of the out-going Administration. I am proud we will inaugurate on January 20th of the coming year a man who, like John Kennedy, calls us to stretch ourselves, calls us to believe that 'yes, we can.' Yes, we can embrace all our citizens and give them health care protection; yes,we can find ways to address the increase in poverty of the last eight years; yes, we are ready to face the grave crisis of our environment and difficult changes in our way of life we must make in order to guarantee life for future generations. Yes, we can find a way out of the quagmire of Iraq; yes, we can respect the lives of innocent people in other countries in the pursuit of those who would harm us; yes, we can reject the immoral justifications of torture and other indignities.

President-elect Obama faces a formidable task. Let us pray he will speak truth to the American people as promised in Grant Park. Let him have the courage to speak the truth, no matter how challenging the message may be. Let us have the strength and courage to engage with him in the great and exciting dialog we are entering upon. And Lord, please protect our soon-to-be president, his family, and all those around him.