A New Dawn

A new day has dawned -- for the people of the US and for the world. The election of Barack Obama represents an opportunity to restore lost freedoms here in the US and to improve relations around the world.

Our hope is that an Obama Administration will oppose the reauthorization of the repressive provisions of the US Patriot Act and the unconstitutional expansion of executive powers.

Our hope is that the new Administration reverses the repressive policies of the Bush Administration, ending such policies as extraordinary rendition, detention at Guantanamo Bay, and other violations of international human rights conventions.

Our hope is that this marks a new beginning of relations with the nations of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The fruits of this new beginning may include a multi-national plan for US disengagement in Iraq, the containment of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and a negotiated end to nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

As President-Elect Obama stated, there will be false steps and setbacks. Still the hope is bes stated in the words of his acceptance speach in Grant Park in Chicago:

"Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. "

My hope is that we do return to these ideals.