By Sophia Politis

On November 4th, 2008, millions of people around the world exhaled in relief and joy as Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. We welcome a new president and the rest of the planet welcomes a new world leader. Nations across the globe were anticipating the day when our country would regain strong leadership and once again become the world’s most powerful democracy and a beacon for freedom and liberty.
Many nations across the globe, especially European and Asian nations, are counting on Barack Obama to restore harmonious relationships with the U.S. Our global relationships have recently been bumpy because of tension over the war in Iraq and global warming. Two wars and Bush’s two terms in office have left many people around the world disgruntled with America. This is why so many of us were mesmerized by the campaign for the past twenty months.  A feeling of hope has swept all over the U.S. and the world, and after eight long years, we finally have someone who is going to make the world respect and admire our country for its values and democracy.
Barack Obama has many challenges to face in the process of fixing our country, such as the global economic crisis, the war in Iraq, and  healthcare reforms. The people who did not vote for Obama did so because of foolish reasons. The majority of the people believe that he is a radical Muslim terrorist, which he is not.  Many people do not like the fact that he is black and feel that he will make executive decisions with only the black community in mind. The anti Obama people especially do not like the fact that he wants restrictions on gun ownership. They fear that same sex couples will be allowed to have civil unions. For shame!! God forbid we allow two people to be happy. And, they hate the fact that he wants to sit down with our enemies and try to resolve our problems like civilized people.
Over the past two weeks, there have been many people here in the SPC Campus that have been proclaiming that they are dissatisfied with the choice we have made for our next president. These people have been saying truly un-American things such as “I’m moving to Australia!” or “This country is fu@%ed” and “The only reason that Barack won is because he is black!!”  It is natural for sore losers to behave this way, but, over time, hopefully these students realize that our country did make the right choice.  They must also be reasonable: John McCain was an excellent candidate for president and so was Obama, but Bush has hurt our country and his party so much that we were not about to elect another Republican president. Furthermore, we are not going to see another Republican president for a very long time.
It is hard to believe that a black man with roots in Kenya and the middle name Hussein would become the next president, but it has happened and we should be proud of Barack Obama. For the people who are not happy, what should we do? Split the country into two Americas: the red states and the blue states? Create walls that separate us when we should all be united?
We have elected Obama not because he is black but because he is the best candidate. We have changed as a country because we are no longer denying someone a job because of their race.  Many people believe that he is an inspiration for everyone to go out into the world and accomplish your dreams just like he has. In a very short period of time, he broke down a lot of barriers and got us all to stand up and join him in the fight against the injustices and hypocrisy in this country.  We need to encourage those who do not like him to see him for what he truly is: a groundbreaking American hero and our next president.