Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
Congratulations, Senator Obama An open letter to President-elect Barack Obama on his historic election victory.by Abelardo Arias
(centrist liberal libertarian)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Congratulations, Senator Obama
by Abelardo Arias
November 4, 2008
Dear Senator Obama,
As I watch the television screen and refresh my webpages on several political sites at once this incredible election night of 2008, I am stunned that you have captured enough electoral votes to become the President-elect of the United States of America. I congratulate you on your remarkable and historic election victory.
America is a nation that is full of hope, optimism and joy this evening. Not the "Real America" of John McCain and Sarah Palin, but the rest of us who are worried sick about our economy, our nation and pervasive war.
Senator Obama, regardless of policy differences that Americans have you have become an inspiration to all Americans, especially minorites like myself. Like many Americans before you since the start of this country, you pulled yourself up by the bootstraps and met adversity head on. I hope you can continue that same spirit of determination and fight right into the White House, the Pentagon and even the halls of the United Nations.
My prayer and hope is that you and your family will be kept safe from those in our country who still believe in the principles of hate and the use of force to suppress individual liberty and involvement in the political process. African-American and Hispanic-Americans have used the right to vote to speak their mind and their dissatisfaction with the promise of "a hundred years" in Iraq and the continued control of our nation at the hands of corporate interests.
Senator Obama, tonight you and the Democratic Party offered America a different alternative to the last eight years of our national nightmare. Whether it was the "shock and awe" of aggressive war in Iraq, the suppression of the Bill of Rights with the Patriot Act, the use of torture on foreigners presumed guilty or the dissaperance of the writ of habeas corpus, Americans wanted change.
Not all of us agreed that you were that agent of change. Tonight the American people spoke. They voted for you. They gave you the opportunity to lead this nation in a way that is consistent with the principles of Liberty in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
I recently wrote an article in which I questioned your ability to handle the underlying problems of our economy. I am still concerned about where our economy is heading. I am still worried about the incredible unchecked power of the Federal Reserve and Congress' inability and unwillingness to be a legislative body of oversight. I am still disappointed about your vote in favor of the Wall Street rich in that unprecedented bail out.
I remain concerned about your commitment to pull out our brave American troops from Iraq. I remain worried about a potential war with the nuclear power of Pakistan. I am disillusioned with the pointless and forgotten war in Afghanistan that claims American lives while the ghost of Osama Bin Laden has long disappeared.
Senator Obama, in spite of my concerns I nonetheless re-thought my support of your candidacy. In the last few days I did some soul searching. I remembered the racial discrimination that I saw my father experience right in front of my eyes. I remembered the dozens of spiteful and racist e-mails I received for criticizing the position of anti-immigrants. I remembered my name being publicly dropped by Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo for being a radical supporter of Liberty. I remembered getting strange looks from Caucasian lawyers when I would sit among them as a young Latino lawyer in our Connecticut courtrooms.
I voted for you today. My thoughts and wishes are certainly with my other favorite choice: former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. I am grateful that Ms. McKinney ran a campaign to point out to Americans major concerns that the mainstream media and the two major parties are so quick to gloss over. She has consistently pointed out the neoconservative refusal to investigate 9/11 and their continued obstacles to the 9/11 Commission and the rejection of the emotional pleas from the victims' families.
But I voted for you today to be a part of history. I chose to be part of that group of Americans who stood up against hate, against disenfranchisement of a group of Americans and against the Republican lie that America loves war and does not want change of the status quo. I am proud to be an American tonight. I am proud to see an African-American be elected President of the United States.
As a Democrat who believes deeply in the principles of Liberty and the need for limited, efficient government that respects the power of the People, I am willing to give you the opportunity to lead our nation. I voted against McCain. I voted against Sarah Palin. I chose to punish the Republican Party for the destruction they wrought upon our nation, our future and the good name of the American people throughout the world.
Here is your chance, Senator Obama. I grant you nothing more than the cherished ideals enshrined in the Bill of Rights. I urge you to move beyong the ideals of the neoliberals in the Democratic Party that would involve our Republic in another century of war, murder and mayhem. I plead with you to abandon the corporate strings that have tangled so many Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the aisle. I ask you to restore our Constitutional rights by respecting habeas corpus, revoking the Unpatriot Act and closing down the Guantanamo and Diego Island death camps for good. I encourage you to close the final chapter of American colonialism and end the territorial control of the sovereign people of Puerto Rico and Guam.
I will be closely watching your administration. As your fellow countryman and a patriot of our great country, I will be holding you accountable to our cherished Constitution and the prospects of peace for my children and for your children as well. You have my sincerest congratulations and best wishes.
Abelardo Arias is a Connecticut attorney involved with the Democratic Freedom Caucus (www.democraticfreedomcaucus.org) and is a committed pro-freedom Constitutionalist. Arias and his wife unschool their children at home.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 12 thumbs so far
The views expressed in this
article are those of Abelardo Arias only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Abelardo Arias is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
When i want to be a part of something, i join a book club. I don't vote for the wrong candidate because it's popular. I guess that's what makes America great. Some people stand up when standing up becomes a crime and others just get in line.
Well, you had me interested in what you had to say until I read that you voted for Obama.
How such intelligence that I see you have could be compromised to vote for Obama is a sign of something seriously wrong with how you use your intelligence.
I am curious how this could have occurred. You with your brilliant mind voting for Obama?
Now that is a mystery.
I am Hispanic and there is no way I would vote for a Black man to be president if a Hispanic cannot be president.
Why would I vote for a Black man when the Hispanics have been so oppressed?
Bill Richardson would have been my choice over them all.
Want to comment on this
article? Leave your comment here. Your email address is
required to track your comment. However, we will neither
publish your email address nor distribute it to other
organizations or persons. The only reason we might use
it would be if we needed to contact you regarding your
comment. All comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
