History In The Making

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Well, presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain made his choice for VP announcement today and it certainly stirred a ruckus. What strikes me, though, is WHY the decision seems to stir such interest. It seems off base to me. You see, while people debate whether our country is ready for an American-African president and which party is going to raise taxes (isn't THAT an old line), we seem to be ignoring the fact that the making of American history is inevitable. By the time this presidential election is done we will either have: a) the first American-African president in our country's history, or b) the first female vice-president in our country. Either way, history is being made. 2008 will go down in history along with: 1863: the end of legal slavery in the United States. 1920: white women are acknowledged as having the legal right to vote. 1964: The Civil Rights act is passed outlawing racial segregation. 1965: The Voting Rights act is passed prohibiting prejudicial practices in elections. I mean, just think about it. In January of 2009 our country will either have its first American-African president or its first female vice-president. When you stop to look back at the glorious history of our country, THIS will stand out as another moment when another "glass ceiling" was broken; or when another racial prejudice was ultimately overcome. From that perspective, no matter which party wins the election, our country will have won by crossing another milestone into open-mindedness. This evening as we ate dinner - with the evening news on in the background as usual - I commented on this to my son. He has seen so much information being disseminated about our first American-African presidential nominee that he hadn't even stopped to realize or think about our first female VP candidate. I think it's amazing. I'm proud of the United States. I still have my preference for who I'd like to see win, but either way our country will have taken another positive step into the future. What do you think?