Barack

My biggest fears have been waylaid; leading up to the election, I was telling friends how I wouldn't be surprised if Barack lost - hey, there are vast regions of this huge country that don't like my sort, let alone Blacks - and that if it came to a showdown, the devils would take a page from Florida and resort to some sort of trickery, as they did with Florida in Gore v. Bush. Neither's happened, Barack's the president, so a sigh of relief.

While I'm much happier that Barack's our president than the retardican alternative, I have problems with him, chief among them his recent advocacy of and voting for the bailout. Then there's his take on the healthcare crisis, one which will do nothing to break the oligarchy of HMOs, drug and insurance companies that dominate it with their lobbyists and lawyers.

But he is president now, and if I had a meeting with him I'd tell him to keep it simple. There's such a shitload of disasters he's inherited that his governance now becomes one of management. This is key. He's got to concentrate on a few, maybe a couple of things and take baby steps. Show some gains, get the team assembled for tackling the particular problem, get them up and running and then move on to the next. His biggest potential mistake will be if he tries to do too much.

He must also be honest and say that that's what he's going to do. Last, taking a cue from Howard Dean, his team was so savvy in terms of tapping the net. He should remember that.

I took Renee to the airport today, she's gone off to Hawaii for school, and I'm empty nesting, missing her already. But we have a Black prez. Just as I see a small light trying to break through in my daughter to find herself, I see a small ray of light for our country. Barack's slogan: "Yes we can." And as cynical a curmudgeon as I am, in this desperate time, I want to believe.

Go do your thing, brothaman.

And how did I vote? Well, I voted Black. Cynthia McKinney.