Goodbye to hucksterism!

What a historic night it was! What a chance to feel optimistic and included again. What a victory for deeper thought and a return to intelligent, respectful dialogue. What hope it engenders that we can be cleansed of the stain of racism. What hope it holds that we can rejoin the international community with our heads held high. What a vote for the exercise of intellect. While the cynicism born of my last decade back in the U.S. tells me to move cautiously into this new landscape, like many of you out there, I am ecstatic at the results of last night's presidential election. For those of you who are less than ecstatic, I will say that I do believe we can move away from the divisiveness of the red-blue split and enter an era where, as one of the candidates said, we can stop maligning the intent of those we disagree with, and move towards effecting the changes we long for through dialogue and cooperation.