It IS a Big Deal!

I am not one to discuss my personal politics. That said, I'd like to discuss the upcoming Presidential Election for just a minute.

In just over two months time our country will come together (separately, in little tiny curtained booths)and choose our next leader. Once the ballots have all been cast and counted we will be left with an historical outcome. Either we will have elected the first Black President of the United States, or, those who are both second and third in line to be Commander in Chief will be women. I say, wow.

In the great band of time it is only a hair width ago that these same people would not have even had the opportunity to cast a vote in this election, and now they are in a position to become the next leader of the Free World.

Someone said to me that it's really not that big a deal. These days there are plenty of politicians who are either black, or women, or black women. Someone actually pointed out that Obama is only half black. I must counter that at a point and time in our country's history (and yes, I will allow myself to believe that that time and place does not exist now, if only to use delusion as a form of self preservation) that would be just enough to have him strung up on a tree. Now he could become our next President!

My children are growing up in an amazing time in our country. When I was a kid this type of election was unthinkable. Sure, some thought that Geraldine Ferraro on the ticket was an astonishing accomplishment, others thought it was a big joke, and in the end the country just wasn't ready. A few years ago when the television show "24" aired with "David Palmer" as President it was pure fiction!

Here's the thing. To my kids, having a black President or a woman President will be no big deal. And that, is precisely what makes it a BIG DEAL. My children will not live in a time where they have to even consider that someone is not worthy of any position, be it political or otherwise, just because of the color of his skin or the gender listed on his driver's license.

I am not discussing my views of the candidates. I am not telling you who I am voting for, and I won't tell you who I think you should vote for. I do think however, that regardless of your opinions about our candidates and their politics, you really must sit back for just a minute and look around and say wow. We live in an amazing time, and I am so proud and honestly excited, to be raising my children as American citizens.

God Bless America.