A New Day in America: Barack Obama, President of the United States

Mark the date on your calendars: November 4, 2008.

This is the day that the United States of America elected a man of multi-racial heritage for the very first time in the 232 years this country has been a nation. More significant of his race is that his skin tone is not the "white" or "Caucasian" appearance that citizens have been accustomed to seeing for all of our lifetimes. Barack Obama is a man of African-American ancestry, his father from Kenya, and his election may very well be a turning point for our great nation.

I am a "white" man, and I check the "Caucasian" box on forms when required to do so. I am also a registered Republican, although I believe my party has lost it's direction within the past decade. While I do not believe in everything that President-elect Obama believes in, I voted for him. Why? Because his very election sends a message to the rest of the world that we are still the land of opportunity, that we do not condone the offensive actions of sitting President George W. Bush, and that we are looking for an individual who can "heal the wounds" that our country has created globally within the past seven years. I have no doubt that John McCain had experience in miltary understanding, but I am not clear that he may have understanding in diplomacy or tact. His campaign was about tearing down his opponent and not building up himself. Barack Obama showed a willingness to extend much-needed diplomacy to the strained relationships with our international allies as well as developing discussion with our adversaries.

I do not believe that Mr. Obama will be a perfect president. No person can fulfill that lofty and unrealistic expectation. However, I do believe he is astute, intelligent, and able to adapt to the needs of his new office. Joe Biden, a man of very comparable legislative experience to John McCain, will be a helpful balance to Obama's potential inexperience in areas of weakness.

My last thought on this election is about Sarah Palin. I can honestly say that the moment I saw Senator McCain choose Governor Palin to be his running mate that he was thinking unconventionally. The more I learned about Palin, though, the more I realized she just didn't have the substance I expected or had hoped to see. She didn't need to have a wealth of experience, but her lack of depth on national issues was alarming (not to mention sounding downright ignorant or naive of things I would expect her to be able to answer in basic interviews). Yes, she's "folksy" and likeable. That doesn't qualify her to run for national office ... yet. Ronald Reagan was of a similar composition, but he was governor of the largest state in population (California) in our country. Being governor of Alaska just isn't the same thing, I'm sorry to say. Palin can certainly position herself for future office; however, she must become more informed with regards to what her office entails. Joe Biden may make verbal gaffes, but I have the impression and belief that he knows what his office requires.

I wish nothing but the best for our new President, Barack Obama. He will face significant challenges entering office that will require determination, stamina, and perserverance. I hope he tackles these challenges with the same ability that he tackled the campaign process and succeeds in doing so. Our nation depends upon it.

Friday the 13th: The Perfect Day for a Move

Ah, the superstitious day of Friday the 13th conjures up images of bad luck, movie horror, and countless potential for mayhem. As of this date, June 13, 2008, which happens to be a Friday, this blog (as well as its counterpart blogs) have moved from the former home of my website (ClubhouseConnection.net, which is now inactive) to Blogspot, which was where they were generated anyway. Hopefully, no bad luck will follow this move, but I hope any former readers are fortunate enough to find their way here. I figure some new content will at least get Google to redirect the old links to these new locations.

There isn't a whole lot new I want to say immediately, especially since I have written anything in eons. When over a year passes (give or take) between posts, you are doing a poor job as a blogger. Given that some bloggers write many times daily, that fact would make me a big slacker.

Since blogging doesn't pay the bills (yet ... or probably ever), look for something slightly more frequent (hopefully) in the future.

Later all...

Yes, Virginia, There is an Author ... He Does Exist

When a year passes between posts on a blog, you have to wonder what the heck happened to the blog's author to not post for so long. Well, in the case of this author, life happened (as it does to many of us) such that writing to a blog (that I am fairly certain nobody reads but the author) seemed like a trivial exercise (or an exercise in futility).

If you have actually read this blog before now and/or happen to be reading this blog for the first time, congratulations on finding it and/or a big thanks for returning (a return visitor deserves special recognition). If historical performance is indicative of future performance, don't expect a whole lot new here for a while (again). I have been writing semi-regularly via The Sporting News (sportingnews.com) at my personal blog there (conveniently titled Ramblings of Rentz: Sports Journal - notice the similarity?). Since that website gets far more traffic than my own Clubhouse Connection ever will, I figure posting there is my best option to help redirect some traffic over to my website (and potentially to my blogs in the process). This is the blog I want to use to showcase my eventual writing samples, unless I go a different route (which I might) and create a blog just for creative writing by myself and/or my wife.

If anyone reads this blog entry, I ask you to comment just so that I know you're there. I want to know what you want to read ... I have various interests (not just sports, as previous posts have indicated) for which I would be willing to opine (provide my opinions), so respond so that I know you truly care. With no comments, I assume there simply are no readers. Heck, even comment here if you read something on one of the other blogs before finding yourself here. Just a simple "hello" and some topics for thought ... nothing more is needed.

Thanks for reading.