Walk Around Chicagoland Speedway Before the Race from Murray Williams on Vimeo.

I brought my Flip camera to the July 11th Sprint Cup race at the Chicagoland Speedway to capture all the craziness that occurs outside the speedway before the races.

Well, it is done. Now we can get back to the real news like which rehab Britney is in and up to the minute news on the last strikingly beautiful white girl who recently disappeared. (Can you tell that I am not enamored with our news situation here in the US?)

But a few of thoughts have come to mind now that the dust is starting to settle.

Thought #1

What would our world look like if McCain had gotten the nod back in 2000 rather than George W. Bush? I don’t have an answer to that question right off the bat, but it is indeed interesting to think about. What do you bet we wouldn’t have invaded Iraq? I am sure we would still be having troubles in the economy due to normal undulations and cycles in the market but would it be this dire? I don’t know. One thing I am pretty sure of is I bet our standing in the world community would be better than it is right now.

Thought #2

A lot is on the shoulders of Barack Obama right now. The hopes and dreams, fairly or unfairly, rest squarely on his shoulders. He did ask for it after all.

There are many who have pointed out his relative lack of experience. Two years from now we will have a much clearer understanding on how that plays out, but that is something to keep an eye on.

Thought #3

I am growing exceedingly tired of the media’s portrayal of the South as being exclusively racist. I take extreme exception with that. Yes, there are racists in the south, but the fact that black men and women find it hard to hail a taxi in New York City proves that we haven’t cornered the market in that area. I think the bigger reason that McCain won the day in the South was the evangelical vote. Church is big in the South. I would bet there are way more conservative Christians than there are out and out racists in the South, and it seems to me that that is the real reason for the vote count down here.

My biggest outrage of the coverage on CNN last night was when one of the pundits called the south “The Confederate States”. Rarely does something make my blood boil, but that was an unfair stereotype and seemed driven by ignorance. We, as a country, have made great strides in righting the atrocities of our past, and name-calling and finger-pointing needs to stop, and stop now. We have a long way to go, but man have we come a long way, and rhetoric like what I saw on CNN last night only slows the progress. CNN don’t bring that lady back!

I will be watching with great interest at Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office. It will be very interesting to see what he does to set the tone for his first term in office. Has he learned from Clinton’s mistake in going to far, to fast? We will see.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t remark on John McCain’s speech. It was one of the most gracious and hopeful concession speeches I have ever heard. My opinion of John McCain has only grown. He is an exceptional man, and too bad we didn’t have him as president these last eight years. Unfortunately for him, it was simply time for us as a country to have change. Timing is everything, and he got swept under that bus.

I don’t blog politics much, and I don’t think I will much in the future, but last night’s election was historic and a giant step forward in moving our country forward in the area of race. Hard work lies ahead for Barack Obama, Godspeed and good luck. If nothing else, it is good to let the other side see if they can do any better.