YES, HE AND WE DID
And isn't America beautiful and better?
I'm a white Irish-Catholic, born in 1943, before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and President Truman integrated the Armed Forces. In that era Coya Knutson lost her seat in Congress because a woman belonged in the home.
After Tuesday's election, I checked out my civic lineup card: My state representative is a black man; my state senator is a woman; my council member is also a woman; my congressman is a black man, and a Muslim; one of my U.S. senators is a woman and the other (whoever it might be) is a Jew; my president is a black man.
The world has changed, and for the better.
DAN KANE, MINNEAPOLIS
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We hear over and over how the senator from Illinois will become the nation's first African-American president. The truth is that he is biracial. This may seem petty to some -- and to others it may seem to be the same thing. But to recognize only part of his race is to not embrace his full identity, and to miss the lesson he is able to teach us: We are all many races -- and many faces -- that make up a larger whole. Without one, we as a people are incomplete.
JOHN MEDEIROS, MINNEAPOLIS
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We have seen the power of a community organizer -- a leader able to activate the whole country as a community -- to make history. Barack Obama is exactly what this country needs. The changes needed to stop global warming, bring our economy to a place we can live with, bring peace to communities -- all will require us as a community in action. Bring it on!
NANCY KIZILOS-CLIFT, SHOREWOOD
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In the race for president, we faced an unending barrage of trigger words designed to stifle thought: "terrorism," "taxes," "socialism" and "sex education for 6-year-olds." These words weren't an argument but a conscious effort to manipulate and to deceive, and play to our worst fears and most base instincts.
This presidential election was an intelligence test for the American public. Thank goodness we passed.
DAVID LAPAKKO, RICHFIELD
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It's time now to follow the words of our young president-elect. Time to heal the wounds of divisiveness and unite as one country. Barack Obama's is a large and big-hearted voice among the partisan harpies, and he tells us to love one another, even though we disagree on some principles and values.
I watched Obama all through this campaign and saw a man who stood above all the pettiness and hateful mudslinging, and I believe that's why so many Americans came to trust and believe in him. If we follow his example, he can and will bring out the best in us.
GREG VAN HEE, PERHAM, MINN.
Advice for Obama Let's be blunt: The Brooklyn Bridge, the Sears Tower, JFK Airport and several airplanes are intact today because of security measures that Barack Obama, if his Senate voting record is any indication, would eliminate as president.
Here's how Obama can follow through on his promise to be a new kind of president and also show his respect for the electorate's concern about national security: make John McCain his director of Homeland Security and defer to his judgment on matters of national security.
ALEX ADAMS-LEYTES, NEW BRIGHTON
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How good of a president Barack Obama will be depends not so much on him as on his close advisers and Cabinet members. If he surrounds himself with the same old, then expect the same old.
GARY RIESENBERG, MINNEAPOLIS
THE U.S. SENATE RACE
Coleman's audacity
Oh, the hubris that is Norm Coleman. With less than 1/2 of 1 percent dividing his votes from Al Franken's, he gives a victory speech and claims that the "people have clearly spoken" in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. Hardly.
Most arrogant of all, he suggests that it is "up to Mr. Franken if the expense of a recount is worth it to the citizens of Minnesota." State law mandates a recount. Coleman continues to mislead voters even after the election.
CYNTHIA SMITH, MAPLEWOOD
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Is anyone still suggesting that one person's vote doesn't matter? It is interesting to wonder what this election would have looked like with instant runoff voting.
ROBERT ALBERTI, MINNEAPOLIS
THE LEGACY AMENDMENT
Is taxaphobia fading?
Contrary to prevailing myths about taxation, Minnesota voters voluntarily chose to raise our taxes in support of programs we feel are worthwhile. Maybe Americans acknowledge and are willing to pay the costs for programs and services previously thought impossible.
TOM BARANIAK, NORTHFIELD, MINN.
