will once again be able to stand tall having proven its intellectual and moral meddle by electing Senator Barack Obama.  Hallelujah!

Barring circumstances which I cannot even conceive (although admittedly those circumstances do exist) by this time tomorrow Senator Barack Obama will be President-elect Barack Obama.  Despite the fact that I did not vote for him (I was able to write in Senator Clinton's name since California is going for Senator Obama by more than 20%, although I am told by relatives and friends that people like me not voting for BO could provide exactly those circumstances of which I cannot conceive), I am exceedingly proud of and moved by the fact that our country will have an African American as its leader.  As Gene Robinson said today, Senator Obama's election will be one of those events that will forever after provide a "before" and "after" demarcation. 

Having written that, however, I am more than a little tired of reading in the foreign press about how backward and immoral the U S of A is; this train of thought is particularly evident in discussions of Governor Palin or when someone hears that there are those in the States who consider Senator Obama to be the anti-Christ.  Now let me state for the record, although I admire many aspects of Governor Palin's career and family life, one of the deciding factors in my inability to vote for Senator McCain was his selection of her as his running mate.  Also, despite the fact that I was brought up a Southern Baptist (and if you know SBs, you know they believe in Revelation, the Four Horsemen, the Rapture, the whole ball of wax), I in no way regard Senator Obama as the anti-Christ (for one thing the anti-Christ would probably be more interesting than Senator Obama who - despite his eloquence and what some see as an exotic heritage - strikes me as rather boring.  Also, I've always thought that Jesus told us "but of that hour and day no one knows" - although one would have thought that the marriage of James Carville and Mary Matalin would have been one of the first signs of the end of the world). 

However, as far as strange beliefs go I'm not sure that one disqualifies the United States from membership in the world community.  Years ago I knew a very smart woman who had grown up in a home that believed in spells and magic.  Her mother used to do something with a raw egg placed under the bed that was supposed to bring bad luck to whomever it was directed against (I'm kind of foggy on the details here).  This was a young woman who worked and lived every day in the modern world and yet firmly believed in the ability of that egg to affect future events.  One of the most intelligent women I know (perfect score on the math portion of the SAT) doesn't believe in evolution.  A close friend of mine who graduated first in her high school class and second in her college class cannot be dissuaded from believing that W and VP Cheney personally planned 9/11.  I have no doubt that you could travel throughout many areas in foreign countries where well educated people live and find beliefs that rival or surpass these oddities of thought.  I would not judge these countries by - what I consider to be -such absurdities.

Similarly, I do realize that there are segments of the United States population who would not vote for Jesus Christ to be President if he were black (and he may well have been).  Again, however, someone please identify for me a country that does not have problems of prejudice.  Those problems may not be based on the color of one's skin but rather on religion or gender or tribe.  Most of these countries are not defined by that prejudice and neither is the United States.  I firmly believe that the great dividing line in my country is money, not race or gender or religion although certainly improvement - sometimes vast improvement - needs to be made in many areas.  

A European friend of mine who considers the US to be far ahead of his native land in offering opportunity not limited by a class structure was one of those who saw the ignorance of the area between the coasts evidenced by the Obama as anti-Christ motif.  He has spoken of it again and again as pointing toward an upset by Senator McCain.  America, in his view, harbors some racist secret in its soul that it will in the end be unable to overcome.  He and my 9/11 conspiracy friend also see Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo as speaking to America's fall from moral leadership.  Am I ashamed of Abu Ghraib?  Yes, I am as ashamed of Abu Ghraib as I am proud of the many American men and women who serve honorably in Iraq every day.  Am I ashamed of the rights denied the enemy combatants imprisoned in Guantamo?  Yes, I am as ashamed of Guantanamo as I am proud of the American attorneys who fight to restore the rights of those imprisoned there.

Has it taken too long for us to come to this night?  Damn straight.  Does that negate the inherent decency of our citizens who have become more and more color blind in their everyday lives?  No way.  Is our country inherently immoral because its leaders have played on our fears to lead us down pathways that are in opposition to many of our country's stated ideals?  No, we were misguided, misled and we will regain our way.

If I wake up in the morning and Senator Barack Obama is President will I be proud of the United States electorate?  Yes, I will be.  If I wake up in the morning and Senator John McCain is President will I be proud of the United States electorate?  Yes, I will be.  But then I woke up this morning and every morning of my life proud of my country; proud of generations of families that have sent sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers to fight for what they have believed to be the cause of freedom in foreign lands; proud of people of color who have fought their whole lives for the respect they deserve; proud of the Freedom Riders; proud of Viola Liuzzo; proud of Dr. King; proud of Hillary Clinton who received more than 18 million votes in her quest for the Democratic Presidential nomination; proud of a young man of mixed race who excelled at his studies, graduated from Harvard Law and became the Senator from Illinois; proud of a man who barely made it out of Annapolis, proved his incredible courage in a prison camp and became the Senator from Arizona.

While the United States holds a special place in my heart, I would never boast that it is the best country in the world but neither is it a backward swamp.  It does not need to measure up to standards devised by countries who themselves do not rise to those heights. 

The United States is a work in progress.  It has been for 232 years and it will be for as long as it exists.  It will continue to ebb and flow, hampered by the congenital flaw of slavery, buoyed by the inherent goodness of its people - and no matter who is President, no matter what ignorant fringe group on the far right or left is saying stupid things, I will be proud of the United States and the vast majority of its citizens.