The time has come to savor a victory. However, this cannot last very long.

We are at a turning point in history, and what happens over the next few years will be very telling about the future of the country. I will not deny that I was moved to action and actually donated money (not a ton) to help Obama achieve victory last night, but when it comes to it, it's time to face facts.

We are in a crisis. Not just a perceived crisis, but a real one. The wars, the economy, and the future hang in the balance of what is going to happen. The groundwork laid here (revamping, economic regulations, changing the focus of social issues, and perhaps new supreme court justices), can have a huge impact on the future.

Anytime when any one group has amassed such an amount of power, it can cause a lot of problems. As is very evident by 6 of the past 8 years.

Remember that power is fleeting in this country, and even if we are unable to get all the action items of the Plan done, unless significant progress will be made, people will remember.

I have wonderful hopes for the future, but know that power can corrupt and if it does, I'll be voting people out of office, just like I helped vote them in.

Now as to people and their opinions, scanning through comments on both a local news site and a national "news" site, and it still shocks me as to how misinformed people are. I can understand challenges to the ideas and what will be best for the country, but using name, race, supposed religion, and just outright lies and restating them as fact is just not the way to do things. If you read something, even if it sent to you by a friend, you need to check it for facts.

One of my new favorite sites over the last while here has been FactCheck.org. It cites where it gets information from and doesn't take facts for granted.

Anyways, it is time to bring a bitter time to a close and work toward the future. Celebrate a bit, then take the signs down...all of them. There is a lot of hard work ahead.

Let us once again become Americans to move our country forward into the future.