In the current presidential race, I have been late to the station, late to the gate, in boarding the "Hope" train being "steered" by Senator Barack Obama. It is time to remedy that. It does not mean that I will be swooning over the candidate – yet. It means that I am being realistic and will jump on that historic train-cum-bandwagon and support candidate Obama if my conditions are met. After all, I have my own hopes and aspirations.

I hope that Mrs. Obama will conduct a search to find something – anything – that her country of birth has done to make her proud, other than the candidacy of her husband. I hope that I can be of assistance!

Mrs. Obama, you should start by reading about the birth of our nation. Personally, I take immense pride in reading the riveting story of the colonists who decided to cut the umbilical cord from Mother England, whose Parliament levied taxes on the American colonists, against their will. It wasn’t easy. Easy would have been to give up and remain in the thrall of taxation without representation. Instead, the colonists threw King George’s tea into the harbor of Boston, in an unmistakable act of defiance. The Thirteen Colonies declared their independence as the United States of America, and on July 4, 1776, by stating: "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal." 

Questions arise. Are "all men created equal"? What about the slaves that the colonists held onto? Isn't slavery wrong and immoral? Aren't slaves also "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights?"

 

Mrs. Obama, you have said that the "bar” is always being moved for your husband. The bar was moved back then, and the slavery question remained unresolved for almost 100 years. But in 1865, after four years of a bloody civil war, slavery was no longer legal in the United States. The moving of that bar in 1865, allowed your husband to be a presidential candidate, with the possibility of ruling over the fifty United States of America, in 2009.

 

During that civil war, literally millions of white people fought and died to free black slaves. Many of those black slaves fought alongside the whites, to free themselves. Ultimately, the slaves were free to claim ownership of the "all men are created equal" opportunity. That was a major rung on the ladder of pride. I am open to proof of any other nation on earth that ripped itself apart, in order to put an end to slavery. Is this not something of which we can all be proud, Mrs. Obama?

 

What would a story of "hope" be without mention of the U.S. military, specifically the heroic men and women – both black and white – who have fought to protect our rights and privileged way of life, as far back as when our Marines kicked the stuffing out of those early "terrorists" on the Barbary Coast?

 

At that time, our country was in its infancy and instead of continually paying "protection" money to these terrorists, as did older nations, our own whippersnapper nation chose to fight. The Marine Corps hymn, "From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" is no idle boast. Our military heroes were allowed to "take care of business" back then, and must always be allowed to do so. Are we in agreement on this, Mrs. Obama?

So far, I have made my desires known about just a few of the sources of pride that Mrs. Obama can find in our country – her country of birth, my country of choice.

 

I now ask a direct question of Senator Obama: Will your expansive and ambitious economic platform that is directed toward the American Taxpayer Machine (ATM), allow "we the people" to get a say in it, especially a "nay"?

Another hope is, should I ever have a face-to-face encounter with either Mr. or Mrs. Obama, that I will not be mistaken for one of those "bitter, God and gun clinging" characters, about whom Candidate Obama recently spoke.

 

Although I do plead guilty to be a God clinging, country loving, American-flag-pin wearing U.S. citizen. I continue to cling to the same God Who promised me that, He will never leave me nor forsake me, even if the politicians who are supposed to be representing me, forsake me. Oops, I misquoted God there! He actually referred to my mother and my father forsaking me. I may be onto something though. Being forsaken by a politician, and left holding an empty bag of unfulfilled promises, could be more traumatic and expensive than being forsaken by one's parents!

Should Mr. Obama agree to my own personal portfolio of "hope”, I will break down and swoon! I will become a member of the "Obamamessiah" cult. I may even make a YouTube video that will make the Obama Girl's video look like amateur night! The ball is in your court, Senator.