In my 61 years, I have seen our country go through many different stages. In the 60s the civil rights movement was the focus. We all remember the pain of those years. As a young adult, I lived in Georgia for a short period of time. I saw for the first time what prejudice was. I saw the separate fountains for blacks and whites only. I saw the separate restrooms. I witnessed people going to the back of the bus. Having never experienced anything like this before, I was horrified and ashamed. But, at that time, something enabled me to understand how difficult this was for people who were set in their ways, who possibly didn't know anything other. A lot has happened since then. People have suffered and given their lives to see a better day. We have overcome a great deal of ignorance. the prejudice and hatred of those years was like a sickness which is passing. We have elected Barack Obama as our president. This makes me proud of my country. But, now I am seeing people use whatever lame excuse they can find to subvert his presidency. The political climate right now is as embarrassing and ignorant as I have ever seen it. People are still trying to convince each other that Obama does not have a valid birth certificate. There was the brew ha ha of him speaking to our school children. We have heard the tired fear of communism and socialism being used as an accusation and an excuse to be rude and angry and mean. We have heard during our presidents speech a congressman yell out to him that he is a liar. Now, on the memorial of 9/11 we have seen the threat of seceding being waved around. Part of this country is acting like a peevish child who cant stand it that they didn't win. We have a tradition of fighting hard for our elections. But, we also rally and support the winner. I did not vote for Bush, but, I dropped all that especially after 9/11. We have been a great example of good sportsmanship. Not this time. I am embarrassed. I thought we had more character than this. The puzzling thing to me is how self righteous my conservative friends are being. They think that they are on Gods side (more accurately, they think that God is on their side) They think it is ok to bend the truth or lie because they are right. We have been a beacon of light to the rest of the world. We have shown courage and generosity and a great deal of love by example to the rest of the world. We are no longer showing that kind of admirable character. This is sad.

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peace, Dorsey