Change is in the air.

More than 40 years ago when I marched on civil rights picket lines, I never could have imagined. Not in my lifetime.

We were fighting for equality of education, of jobs, of housing. We were protesting the wrongs done each and every day to the blacks citizens of our nation. We decried the inherent racism which insidiously thrived in our society.

We demanded equality for all. We believed it could happen.

And although we are not quite there yet, a black President of the United States was not an anticipated part of the program – at least not this soon.

I can’t speak for the children of the 60s, armed with their picket signs, long hair and flowers, but this sole voice can clearly enunciate that seeing a black president elected in this country was not expected in his lifetime. It was – at least once – unimaginable.

And I repeat, although we’re not yet there at the crossroads of true equality, we’ve come a long way – longer than this optimist imagined.

And now with the burdens of a country at war, a worldwide economic crisis, an abuse of the planet’s resources, a world still filled with hunger and moral atrocities Barack Obama also has the awesome obligation of fulfilling the human promise of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that our children will indeed never again be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

And with that mission begun, many of the children of the 60s will remember Barack Obama as the transformational figure in our lifetime. His legacy can be one of dramatic international change for my generation and the generation of my daughter which he inspired to participate in the system.

We stand on the precipice of history with perhaps the most important figure of our lifetime. His election is a mandate for change.

I can’t wait to be part of it.

I can’t wait to record it.

Good luck Mr. President.



Coattails In New York

Contrasting to the upbeat and uplifting thoughts and promises in our nation’s capital, is the downbeat and depressing prospects in our State’s capital. With him, Barack Obama has swept in enough Democratic State Senators for his party to gain control of the State Senate for the first time since 1965 and with it, all three men in the room of power are Democrats for the first time since 1935.

And good Dems will tell you change is in the air. Sadly, this writer holds performance above party and has watched the dysfunctional Albany legislature fail for years. The problem was not partisan politics. The poison destroying Albany was the lure of power, position and money, and that has no party bounds. Democrats and Republicans alike, Assembly members and State Senators attracted by the big bucks of lobbyists, kept in line by the lure of lulus and member items blindly followed the scent of dollars and power. And so it will continue unchanged.

It will take more than a power shift from one party to another to reform Albany’s culture. It will take a transformational figure, and the one we elected just two years ago turned out to be attracted by the lure of high power sex and invested in ego-politics rather than reform. His replacement, our current Governor, spurred on by the largest looming State budget deficit in history, is likely to talk loudly and negotiate with a small stick yielding often to the wants and desires of the moribund legislature.

This is the moment that will test David Paterson; this is his moment in history. The prospects don’t appear to be good.



An odor in the City

And finally, as we look to Washington to blossom and Albany to muddle on the edge of bankruptcy, New York City in the midst of its worst financial situation since 9-11, finds itself government in the middle of a crisis of morals and leadership.

The Mayor, who for seven years was above the fray, got down into the self-serving gutter to lead the desperate City Council to legislate a term limit extension of four years for them all. In so doing, he for the first time since taking office has muddied himself with serving politics and the odor has led the Council to believe they no longer have to be concerned with the moral high ground.

Mike Bloomberg, viewed by many including this writer as the best Mayor in a lifetime, loomed large on the City, State and National level -- perhaps once our potential transformational figure.

But Bloomberg, who has guided the city with reason and skill for the past seven years, has led the government astray. Will this Council ever find its way again?

There are a few more weekends left to see the beautiful New England foliage. Get out of the city and breathe the fresh air.