Partisan bickering, cheap shots, rank propaganda, rampant wishful thinking…the recent Presidential election was local politics on a national scale. I’m delighted that Obama won, not because I think he’s the better man – no one knows who he really is – but because I’m pretty sure that he’s not the “same old-same old.” I’m also gratified that an African-American holds the highest office in the land because I believe that Obama’s election ratifies the truth that America is (still) a land of opportunity for one and all. I remember the sense of hope and possibility that gripped the country when Kennedy was elected, and I’m hoping that people will now put their hair shirts away, take a deep breath, and get back to doing what they do best: working for a better future.