The human spirit is at its best when we dare to scale the walls of uncertainty and overcomes the obstacles of incertitude. 
 
When a cacophony of naysayers seeks to distinguish the kindled spirit of hope that strives mankind forward, those who interminably overcome do so by disregarding the malfeasance of  the skeptics and the self-defeating clutches of doubt .  After all, what feats could David have accomplished had he listened to his detractors and decided that Goliath was unconquerable?  What destiny would have awaited Christopher Columbus had he listened to the conventional wisdom of the day?  Who would know the name Martin Luther King Jr. had he succumb to the idea of blacks waiting for another day to have better opportunity?  
 
We thus are faced with one of the seminal moments where history could be decided by our action or left unwritten by the lack thereof.  We have a unique opportunity to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.  Yet, there are voices out there beseeching us that he is too inexperienced, that he is too young, that he should wait for another day to have a better opportunity.  Our conviction could overcome these voices of diversion, or our determination can ebb and be rendered breathless by our incapacity to conquer the gravity of the status quo.  We have gotten used to the idea of politics as a civic war, pitting Democrats versus Republicansleaving us incapable of discussing politics with anyone we are not certain shares our viewpoints.  Democracy is an open transaction of ideas, not a myopic reiteration of doctrine.
 
Democracy is remarkable because it enables people of various backgrounds, views, and ideals to debate, in a public square, our collective direction while preserving our individual views.  While our views are our identities, our democracy is served best when we are circumspect with our views–when our views can be influenced and are not held in absolutes.  However, Democracy is diminished when we dwell in quarters that excludes differing views and bemoans alternate ideas.  When our politics becomes blunt tools to bludgeon Democrats or Republicans, when we live in blue states and red states, we thus render moot the very definition of the United States of America.  
 
We have a choice, a choice that aims to replace us versus them to us and them.  Increasingly, the spirit of the United States is crumbling under the weight of a balkanized states of America; we have been pitted, one against the other, by some invisible animosity and intangible anger.  We are encouraged to view the issues that confront our lives from a limited partisan prism.  During the past couple of administrations, politics has incrementally devolved into a blood sport; where fans cheer for their team and equal voracity demean their opponents.  In this atmosphere, discussion is devalued, understanding is discounted, and intellectual curiosity is discarded.  
 
While there are some offering immeasurable experience in this art of scorched earth combat, Barack Obama offers a chance to break free from the experience of discontent and replace it with the novelty of hope.   We are a nation of many, united by a common yearning of opportunity and equality.  We need a president that inspires us to find the problems that plague our society on the basis of these common hopes instead of one that seeks to exploit on the exclusionary dogma of fear or friction.  I believe that Mr. Obama has the rare combination of substance and style to deliver a message of hope and fairness to those that have the misfortune to live in inequity without alienating those blessed to dwell in the prosperity.  
 
For too long, we have sat on the sidelines decrying the state of our country.  We are told continuously that the world is what it is, and that we are hopeless to change the winds of fate.  Though our efforts sometimes go unrewarded, and our hopes sometimes dashed by the unexpected, the audacity to attempt new feats–to dare climb that insurmountable step–at times deliver us to accomplishments never dreamed of by our forefathers and often doubted by our contemporaries.  While we might not be able to slay a giant, discover uncharted continents, or deliver a people out of bondage, our belief and our collective action can transform our politics that is rooted in the antipathy of fear to one that speaks to the resiliency of hope. 

Theodore Fikre
Alexandria