Yes, we did.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have tears in my eyes during McCain's concession speech and again a little while later during Obama's acceptance speech. Watching McCain was like watching a great athlete playing in his final game before retirement; sure you feel badly for him, but he was playing against the team you root for, and well...

Obama. Obama's speech will, without question, stand together in history alongside Dr. King's 'I have a dream' and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. From the very moment he appeared on stage, there was feeling of transcendence in the air. That by simply watching it we were becoming part of something great, something with much more longevity than ourselves.

America, perhaps? Freedom? Hope? Inspiration? All of the above?

The journey to the Whitehouse was long and difficult. But it is complete. This is the moment we'll be talking about for generations to come; when We the People, finally turned our back on our vicious and, frankly, embarrassing past, and, standing together with ghosts of Ol' Abe Lincoln and the Reverend King, said, we, the United States, the most perfect Union, have finally reached a place where men are, indeed, not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

The Inaugural on January 21st, 2009 is the icing the cake.

Now, all that said, if we want these dusty ole Chimes of Freedom to start ringing for us pitch-perfect, we have a lot of work to do. Winning the Presidency was only the beginning. Do not become content. Do not become complacent. Do not settle in and wait for the system to work for you; the system is broken. And simply electing, finally, someone who may be the most inspirational President since Kennedy, is a good start, but my friends, it ain't the answer.

In other words, it's time to roll up your sleeves. We have work to do.

That means me. And that means you.

For there's a battle outside, and it's raging.

Schell