AMAZING

There's nothing to compare it to.

When JFK won, it was an incredible breakthrough for this country with its anti-Catholic and especially anti-Irish/Catholic bias, as well as giving hope to an entire generation that yes the world could change for the better if there were leaders who could bring hope to the challenge of doing that.

But he won only by a relatively slim margin.

Bil Clinton didn't even get fifty per cent of the vote, and though he represented a generational change and the hope of that generation, his vision and his mandate were limited.

The closest thing in some ways, is the rise of Cassius Clay from a "black" kid in the segregated South who became an Olympic boxing champion and then surprised the world not only by his confidence but by his talent and skills to become the heavyweight champion of the world and as Muhammed Ali, the most famous person in the world.

Only Obama has done it with the charm and charisma and capacity for learning of JFK, the youth and intelligence and determination of Bill Clinton, and the speed and confidence and natural brilliance of Muhammed Ali.

But even that doesn't satisfy my craving for a way to say how extraordinary Obama's accomplishment is.

To inspire a higher percentage of voters to cast a ballot than has happened in how long? I haven't heard yet, I just got up after being up half the night with fellow revelers and later other concerns, including calls and emails from around the world, but my guess is this was the highest turn out at least since the 1960s and maybe even longer.

And the majority he got, a landslide we haven't seen since LBJ I suspect. Maybe Reagan, but considering all the attempts to discredit voters and fiddle with results, I bet Obama's majority is bigger than Reagan's.

This is a tectonic shift not only in the political landscape of the USA, but in the world.

It's going to be a tough job, and there will be many obstacles thrown in the way of Obama and his administration besides the ones already created by his predecessor's, but this young brilliant community organizer has proven that his confidence is well earned and his intelligence should not be doubted.

Even when his own staff was wavering, believing he should change tactics and run a more aggressively negative campaign, or attack his opponenets more severely, it was like people telling Ali to stop dropping his hands and fight the old fashioned way or he'd get his butt whipped by Liston and the rest. But he knew what he was capable of when others doubted. And he proved it.

So has Obama.

Just by what he has accomplished, he has proven that he has more insight and more understanding of where this country is and what it craves than all the pundits and political pros put together.

And that victory speech. Immediately demonstrating his honesty and his fairness, quoting Republicans, reaching out to them, being gracious to his opponents who ran one of the most dishonest and slimey negative campaigns in modern times.

McCain gave a very gracious concession speech, but notice how his supporters booed Obama's name every time it was mentioned, whereas Obama's supporters cheered McCain's name when Obama said it.

That says tons right there. And the phone call between them included Obama telling McCain he will need his help and seek his advice. How amazingly Lincolnesque that is!

This man called on the better angels of our nature, and nation, and damn if they didn't respond. God bless him, his family, our changing country and world.