By now the world knows that the American people have elected Barack Obama to serve as the next president of the United States. Born in Hawaii to a black, Kenyan father and a white mother, Obama was educated in Indonesia and in Hawaii, where his grandparents raised him after his mother's untimely death.
It is hard to overstate the sea change that Obama's election represents. After a period in American history characterized by divisiveness at home and abroad, a period of hard-edged foreign relations, even with our closest allies, the nation eagerly awaits a new approach and a new American role and image in the world.
The challenges that Obama will face are immense, and much has been made of his relative youth and inexperience. But with the rancor of the campaign fading quickly, even members of the Republican party (now the party in opposition) are praising Obama's intellect, demeanor and analytic approach. For a good example, click here to listen to NPR's Terry Gross interview former Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards.
In 2001, Muslim extremists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In 2008, Americans elected Barack Hussein Obama to serve as the 44th president of the United States of America.
America, ever changing, ever dynamic, replete with potential and possibilty, has moved dramatically ahead.
