How He Got Here

Many will say that it took too long for a minority to become the president of the United States of America. But it’s better late than never, as others will say.

President-Elect Barack Obama will become the first bi-racial black and white man to hold the office of Commander-in-Chief.

Many black, and even white, Americans suffered from the racial injustices of evil men of both colors. Many black Americans dared to dream of a better life and some, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., paid with their lives for having such dreams of freedom.

And in so many ways, Obama is the embodiment of that dream of Dr. King’s. His mother was white and his father was black and many Americans voted for him because of his character. Dr. King would have been so proud.

And now, Obama is one of the few Americans who has the power to become a racial bridge of equality and will hopefully establish a more color-blinded society. A growing society that will live up to the dream that Dr. King envision:

That people are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

More Freedoms Needed
For Independent Voters

There is a growing minority in our country and it’s not a racial one, but a political one.

This political minority believes in the actual plans that politicians have for our country and have little to no interest for partisan loyalties and near-propaganda speeches. In fact, this minority do not even belong to a political party.

These people are independents and many of them have the true American spirit, more so than Republicans or Democrats who blindly tow their party line. Independent voters want to have their voices be as equal as the two major parties.

But sadly, independent voters are shunt away by Republicans and Democrats, both the elected leaders and the voters themselves. Many independents in many states in this past presidential race could not participate in the election like their Democratic and Republican counterparts.

Many of them were not allowed to vote in the primary elections, robbing them of their rights to express their opinions and beliefs by voting.

However, both Democratic and Republican leaders are all too eager to use independent voters -- swing voters -- to help them win elections.

But there are many organizations and groups who fight for independent voter rights. They work hard to get legislation passed so independents can enjoy the same freedoms as Republican and Democratic voters.

For example, the Committee for a Unified Independent Party, Inc. works tirelessly to have politicians to commit themselves to work on behalf of independent voters. In fact, the organization has a free conference on Sunday, Jan. 25 in New York, where many issues will be discussed. More information can be found here.

It’s important that all American voters, despite their leanings, have an equal voice in our system of government. If we do not grant these voters the same rights as others have enjoyed, than we would be guilty of discriminating against a political minority. And that is truly un-American.

The Calls We Didn’t Hear Regarding
Israel’s Battle Against Hamas

For the last few days we have heard in the news of the U.S., the U.N. and even foreign leaders calling for a truce between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.

But why haven’t we heard more calls from these groups to support Israel in destroying Hamas? Why haven’t we heard from President Bush, who has been a huge supporter of erasing terrorist organizations, that the U.S. will be donating weapons or supplies to Israel in their fight against Hamas, as well as sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinians?

Hamas is allegedly a major political party and has a lot of seats in the Palestinian National Authority’s elected legislative council. But many of its members are still terrorists who are bent on destroying Israel and her people.

In fact, if Hamas was any type of decent political party, they would not have broken the truce that started this latest round of chaos.

Dealing with terrorists like Hamas only results in more bloodshed. They cannot be reasoned with or trusted.

And of course Israel will act aggressively against them. If someone indiscriminately fires rockets into Israeli cities or digging infiltration tunnels to send suicide bombers into Israel, then Israel is justified in its actions.

However, some restraint should be shown towards the innocent Palestinian people, even though it seems doubtful that they will condemn Hamas for starting the aggression.

But the world needs to realize that Hamas is not serious about a truce, cease-fires or even peace talks.

It is time that the world starts putting the blame on Hamas and starts finding real solutions in stopping them from constantly breaking the brief relieve between battles that Israel and the Palestinians infrequently enjoy.