Hope

Today everyone seems full of hope. I am full of hope too.

I am full of hope that, as my friend Delric predicts, that Obama will feel himself compelled to be a centrist president and mitigate the far liberal and socialist viewpoints that his voting record suggests he espouses.

I am full of hope that the things that he will be most liberal on are the things that most of America, I think, wants or at least wants to stop discussing. Things like same-sex marriage and other personal freedoms.

I am full of hope that he will recognize that he is in a long-term war, a war not started by the United States, but by an ideology that has long recognized that freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equality between the sexes, human rights, and democracy prevent that ideology from achieving its goals. That ideology is fundamentalism, whether it’s Christian or Muslim or pseudo-scientific theories that have reached such ideological status despite the lack of or the twisting of the actual evidence.

I am full of hope that Obama will handle the challenges of inimical foreign powers well, challenges that even Biden explicitly said will begin happening within six months of Obama’s inauguration, unlike the person that Obama is most often compared to, Kennedy.

I am full of hope that Obama will emulate one of Kennedy’s best decisions, a strong commitment to space exploration.

I am full of hope that Obama will realize that there are no easy answers when it comes to producing energy and that our entire civilization is dependent upon reliable energy. I further hope that he will recognize that current plans for clean, renewable energy, which we all want more of, often have serious and major unintended consequences and find new ways around those problems.

I am full of hope that my Democratic friends, who are good people and generally centrist, will not find their find their vision corrupted by a person whose track record seems radically different from theirs, despite both being called Democrats.

I am full of hope that Obama fulfills all of his campaign promises, even if they do not always fit the traditional liberal viewpoint, such as his vow to protect the Second Amendment.

I am full of hope that I was wrong and that history will prove me as being wrong.

I am full of hope that the hope wafting in the air will bring good things.

I am full of hope that Obama will be remembered in America as a great President and I will work to help as best I can.

Today, I am full of hope, because hope is all Obama has ever shown me.