A beautiful day

Today was a great day in the US. After all the fighting, bickering, finger pointing, lying, exaggeration, etc. we have come together to make history. I am completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of what happened today. Five things stand out for me:

1. Never before in history (what I know of history) has the son of an enslaved people risen to the top position in the country without bloodshed, civil war, anarchy, etc. Amazing.

2. I can't think of another country who's had the opportunity to reach back to the darkest period of its history and redeem itself. Sure, voting in Barack Obama in no way erases the ugliness of slavery, segregation and prejudice but it is a huge step forward towards redemption.

3. The crowd cheering Obama was not a black crowd, or a minority crowd, it was a crowd of elated, overjoyed, hopeful Americans. I saw tears flowing from the eyes of white people, black people, young people, old people, minorities, majorities...basically Americans.

4. Three years ago Sofia and I were living in Sweden and travelling in Europe and everywhere we went the US was spit on, mocked, reviled, cursed. What a difference one man has made. Just go to any newspaper in any country in Europe and see the admiration, excitement, joy. One Swedish paper said it the best "today, the good America has reappeared."

5. There in no doubt in my mind that Obama is a man of destiny. Remember that Bill Clinton almost lost the election over having smoked pot and yet we have just elected a man who admitted smoking crack. We have just seen a man with no real political background, no blue blood running in his veins, no family connections to the White House, no ethnic entitlement become the next president of the US.

Not since Ronald Reagan has someone stirred in me the fires of patriotism like Obama did tonight. I am so proud that my little children will grow up with an African American in the Whitehouse because it will completely change the race conversation for them.

Now, I hope that Obama approaches the office of the presidency with the same class, zeal and determination as he did his election. I hope for the sake of this moment in our history that he turns out to be not only a great orator but also one of the greatest presidents in our history.

Finally, I pray that he is kept safe. If someone harms him or his family, we as a country will never be able to lift our head again in pride at the progress that we have made. In that way I hope he is completely unlike JFK.

Emma

Update:  Emma has concluded her treatment and her leukemia is in full remission.  We are very thankful for her health.

My little niece is fighting for her life having just been diagnosed with acute leukemia. If you want to follow her progress, you can do so by going to this website.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/emmaeinhorn

Nathan

WMDs or WMFDs

Is there anyone else besides myself that finds it sadly humorous that this Administration embarked on a 600 Billion dollar journey (originally was supposed to cost no more than $80B) to look for WMDs in Iraq and all along the Weapons of Mass Destruction were located a few buildings away from the Trade Center in the offices of Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Freddie Mae, Freddie Mac, Goldman, etc. These "dirty bombs" of gluttony, greed, irresponsibility and yes, even fraud are the WMFDs (Weapons of Mass Financial Destruction) that are threatening to bring this proud country to its knees in a way that no Al-Qaeda dirty bomb could. Now, us, the American tax payers have to step in and bail out these houses of financial worship. LET THEM BURN! Where was Washington when thousands of companies went bankrupt when the Dot-com bubble burst? Nobody submitted a bailout plan for WorldCom, Enron, AOL, Global Crossings, etc. because they knew that their demise was primarily their own fault and that our economy would be better off without them. I understand that our economy will probably go through a major correction or even depression if the government does not intervene but isn't that survival of the fittest?

I remember just about a year ago when these financial houses were making record earnings and doling out unprecedented bonus packages. There was such an infusion of wealth in NYC that the city ran out of yachts, exotic cars, high priced condos, etc. Now, not 18 months later we the struggling tax payers are asked to step in and bail their greedy asses out? No damn way! LET THEM BURN! At least in the Great Depression there were bankers jumping out of buildings which meant that they were feeling the pain. Now if a banker jumps off a building, it's because he/she is doing some base jumping. How times have changed.

What pisses me off the most is that I find myself unable to believe a word that the current administration is telling us about this crisis. Hell, the reasoning for invading Iraq was pretty damn airtight, wasn't it? Anyone remember Colin Powell in front of the UN with the satellite photos? Seven years after that pack of lies and after having sucked $600 Billion from our economy (imagine if we had that money now to spend salvaging our economy) we are being fed these irrefutable facts that if we don't mortgage our future then the economy will collapse. What if they are wrong just like they were about Iraq? What if we go with this bailout and they underestimate it the way they did the war ($80B to $600B)? Will we be left with a 2 or 3 Trillion dollar problem? And, what if they're wrong and our economy is capable of handling such a dramatic correction? I fear that we will be mortgaging the future of this great country to bail out a handful of greedy bastards. Hey Paulson and Bernake, why don't you donate a proportional amount to this bailout? If in the end it costs me $30,000 to bail out these banks (10% of my net worth) then each of you should pony up at least $100M each. Feel our pain!

Unfortunately, in the end, this bailout will pass. These banks will stabilize and in 5 years be recording record profits. The USD will continue to drop in value and my dreams of realizing the American Dream will haunt me until I'm 75 and working as a porter at a swank hotel somewhere opening the doors to some smug, filthy rich, calloused banker who just might or might not throw me a Yaun as a tip.

Who I'm Voting For...

I really hate the way this election has devolved, once again, into an chicken pecking contest. We are no longer discussing substantive issues like the economy, national security, education, our needy, health care but rather discussing whether Biden told a cripple to stand or Palin had a clear opinion on the Bush Doctrine (does he have a doctrine?)

The Market meltdown last week was scary as hell but reinforced one of my core beliefs which is that it's not as important who we elect to be our next President but rather who that President appoints to his/her Cabinet. Notice how completely absent both Mc Cain and Obama are right now in the face of this financial crisis. All either of them can do right now is jump up and say "yeah, me too!" The truth is that neither of them have the ability to get us out of this mess without a team of very intelligent, experienced people. Simply put, Obama does not have the experience to be our next President and Mc Cain does not have the intelligence. So, who they pick to be part of their team is going to make my decision for me.


I am not ready to jump on the Hollywood-driven bandwagon of Bush haters. Being an amateurish student of history, I can't help but think that there are a couple good things to come from these past 8 years (Africa, Peak Oil, etc). However, one thing I think History will remember clearly is that Bush consistently made bad Staffing decisions. Let me list some obvious examples:

• Greenspan. I understand that at the time, he was globally recognized as the greatest Fed Chairman that ever lived but just take a look around.
• Head of EPA. He basically drove Whitman out at a time when the EPA needed to play a key role in transforming our country from a selfish, resource-hoarding nation to a nation who cares deeply about the precious resources we have been given.
• FEMA. Katrina, need I say more?
• SEC. The Bush administration has overseen two major Market meltdowns and underlying both has been wild speculation, lack of any kind of oversight and just plain greed. I think it's fair to say the SEC has seriously let us down.
• Ethics oversight. The whole Republican party has morphed from a party that used to represent values and morals to the party seemingly on the take.
• Iraq. From the original guy who bungled the transitional government to the lack of oversight on the $ Billions sent over to Iraq to the way that contracts were awarded without any kind of fair bidding process, the whole Iraq war has been a neon sign of poor staffing decisions.
• FDA. How many cases of poisoned food and poisoned toys have surfaced in the past 8 years?

I could go on and on but you get my point. The only government agency that has done anything in the past 8 years has been the FCC and they mainly have been Nazi-like in their abolition of nudity on TV. Frankly, that's the one agency I wouldn't mind failing. I would rather have nudity on TV than a financial meltdown...but that's just my opinion.

In conclusion, I am waiting anxiously to see who Mc Cain and Obama nominate for their Cabinet. When I see intelligent, seasoned, cross-party candidates being nominated, I will vote for that presidential candidate. That is how you will get this Independent's vote.

Thoughts...

Drums from an ethereal land beat in my soul.
The rhythm is clear but the destination is unknown.
So I march one day at a time hoping and believing
that when my time on Earth is done I would not have marched in vain.

Be faithful to the beat one day at a time, I’m told
soon enough the fog will lift and the you will see the reason for being.
And so I patiently wait, driving myself to uncover the beauty of every moment, the fullness of every day
and I wait…

But I don’t wait alone…not anymore.
Just when the drum beat was starting to fade
I found a lover, companion and friend.
She is the fuel that keeps me marching, the reason for my being.

And now our house if filled with the laughter of two little angels
and our lives are filled to overflowing with the joy of these gifts.
Who would have thought that the journey would be this much fun?

So, will I ever reach the land of the beating drums?
Will the incessant call to greatness ever lead me to great things?
Who knows but one thing I do know
I love marching arm and arm between two angels and a friend.