I never bothered to be very politically aware until about 10 years ago when the level of baiting and fear mongering reached it's all time highest since Regan's run for the White House, even then I was too young to grasp what was going on and much more concerned with adolescent pursuits. My brain is too small to grasp the larger picture of history's twists and turns, so I made a slow effort to decode the noise I'd been hearing on the news and in the streets.
Any political viewpoint I took on was only based on whatever my peers told me, and since some or most of them were seemingly more informed or eloquent, I just took whatever they had to say as the bottom line. It was about the time that the witch hunt began to impeach Bubba Clinton for tagging the fat chick in the oval office that I tried to take a closer notice of what was going on behind the curtain. Granted there were some fairly unlikeable things about old Bill, but fellatio is not an impeachable offense. I mean, come on folks he did preside over the greatest economic increase in 30-some years. We deserve to prosper regardless of who's driving right? With all the indictments an trip before the Fed Grand Jury over a blowjob, it was obvious to me that we were being distracted from more devious goings on - but I digress...
This past presidential campaign was historic in the sense that we had two candidates surface from their primaries that were fairly progressive. Of chief significance was the amount of grass roots organization going on getting the real fact out there in the face of some of the most intense and desperate fear-mongering we've seen in ages. For a change, it seems, an earnest mandate from WE THE PEOPLE was declared as folks jumped party lines to either cast their vote for a positive step towards the future or fear and aggression. I cried when I heard Sen. McCain's concession speech because he really wasn't the candidate for the truly conservative base. I fear that his call for cooperation fell on some deaf ears and we haven't seen the last of violent skinhead plots or white trash crack heads shooting folks in Unitarian churches because "liberals have destroyed our Country".

That said, I wanted to share some words with you from an old friend back home in Virginia.
"The day after election day"-Ray Cohen
"It's the day after election day and Barak Obama will be our next president. I am excited to see the desire for change manifest in way that seems to hold such promise and opportunity. Today, I feel inspired. I resist the urge to see Obama as the change, but as a representation of our combined intention to change. Just as the politics of recent years have represented the aligned consciousness of many, the politicians are not the ones to conveniently shoulder the blame. We live in a representative democracy, and although flawed, there is the unique ability for our political process to allow the cumulative intention of the people to be seen, and manifest in our government. I am grateful for this, and feel blessed to live in an age, where those that may have been owned as property some generations ago can now lead. I see promise for the continuing evolution of humanity. This has felt like an important election. The prospect of our continued growth
being forced through experiencing the cataclysmic results of our fear-based choices has looked pretty foreboding in recent years. We can get the message now, or we can get it later, but we will get it, we will continue to evolve. What we can choose now is whether we need pain and suffering to motivate us to look for a new way, a higher choice.

I watched Cornell West on the Bill Maher show the other night. He is a professor of African American studies at Princeton. I saw him speak here in Lexington a few years ago.. He is brilliant, well spoken, and his message is always compassionate and inclusive. There was a discussion about the accusations regarding Obama being a socialist. This is part of what he said:
It's an exciting moment to be alive when you see that kind of desperation. This was the last gasp of the conservative era where the economics of greed, the culture of indifference, and the politics of fear have been brought together in such a way that it hides and conceals the plight of the poor people and the working people. This is exciting, but we are in a transitional moment. The real questions are:
Can we generate a commitment to fairness and justice in the face of greed?
Can we generate compassion in the face of indifference?
Can we generate hope in the face of fear?
This is what Barak Obama is all about.

Our continued intention and conscious awareness as to how we choose is what is at issue here. Obama represents our will, our intention. He can do nothing for us, but he can lead with us. The wave of our accumulated will is what is manifesting this opportunity we see before us. It is our responsibility to continue with this divinely inspired mission to improve this country and our world. This work begins with ourselves, our relationships, our lives. Through our focused intention to be more, we become the light, we transform ourselves and our world. This is the opportunity before us. As I say these words out loud, I see the opportunity for my own higher choice, the potential to be more. I am filled with gratitude to know that this possibility exists. To know that all that is necessary is the faith to honor my intention to choose fairness, compassion and hope in the face of greed, indifference and fear. We get to choose who we will become,
independent of circumstances and other's choices. Not that the world does not affect us, but that it provides the backdrop, the opportunity for how we will choose to experience life. As things become difficult, scary or painful, this faith becomes the foundation to hold true to the vision of who we can be. This is true individually and collectively. Remember who you can be. Revel in the infinite potential and unlimited possibility that life offers. Recognize and enjoy those moments where it is evident that the power of our consciousness aligned can manifest miracles. Have a great day!

Ray"