President Obama

We stood for 5 hours in temperatures that with wind chills plummeted to 7 degrees, yet we were warmed literally by the proximity of so many other like-minded bodies (and our hand and foot warmers) who had turned out for The inauguration. It is and probably will be the inauguration of my lifetime.

Although I came of political age during the John F. Kennedy election cycle, I was too young (not yet the required 21 at that time) to vote. A southerner, in college I was a meek boycotter of racially segregated movies, but it was a big step for me. Later, as I gained confidence, I committed myself to racial justice and joined a group combatting housing segregation in the Washington suburbs through picketing and sit ins.

During 2008, I started out a Hillary supporter, but Obama not only won my vote (which was never in doubt) but my heart and mind as well. I am ready to do my part and to follow this wise leader.

What touched me at the inauguration was the variety of people who were attending. Sure there were lots of African Americans and lots of white folks and college aged youth. But I was most affected by efforts made by ancient AFrican American women in wheelchairs and the middle aged white ladies using their walkers to get around the inhospitable cold ground of the National Mall. I was thrilled by the middle schoolers from Santa Barbara who asked to interview me for their video website and blog: What do you think Change means, they asked.

I enjoyed the folks we met on the crowded metro lines from North Carolina, Savannah, Ga., Texas, Chesapeake, Va., Los Angeles, and Ohio who were elated, tired, cold and energized just like we were -- all at the same time. They all felt like me -- they had to come.

Earlier in the weekend, my daughter Margaret and I had visited a new exhibit on Abraham Lincoln's life in commemoration of his 200th birthday. It opened last week at the National Museum of AMerican History. Only a few blocks away near Chinatown, the National Museum of Art and the National Portrait Gallery hosted two more exhibits on Lincoln -- one of photographs taken, including the final one before his assasination, and the two life masks -- one created just before he took office and one just before his death. The toll that the Civil War took on him is etched into his face. I thought about Lincoln all weekend as another Illinoian prepared to take the oath of office. How far we have come since Lincoln gave his all to save the union -- and what new challenges have arisen since that time -- just as the new man takes office.

Obama's faith in the people -- sometimes erroneously dismissed as rhetoric -- is returned by the faith that people have in him. Here is a man who can ask - yes, even demand - our sacrifices. He reminds us that he is not perfect, that he will make mistakes, but that change is occurring and that he needs us all to participate.

I'm betting we will be ready to follow. It won't be easy and we may question him -- especially if he wants to cut our favorite program -- or not take up the cause I deem most important. Just so, the public and polticiians questioned Lincoln. Lincoln and Obama have at least one trait very much in common -- they have a focused calmness that inspires others' confidence.

As I looked around at the crowd yesterday, those standing close to me and those at a distance, and I heard the strains of "American the beautiful . . . God spread thy grace on thee..." I felt a lump in my throat and a tear, albeit icy, in my eye.

FOr this scene before me represents America . . . this mass of people wrapped in wintry wool, who have given up at least their immediate comfort and warmth to witness this moment. Why ? Because all one million of us know that this is an important time for us individually and for our country.

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Medicare -- Mr. President-Elect's Internet Team, Take Note

On NPR's All Things Considered, December 27 about medicare drug programs, a guest emphasized the medicare interactive tools but decried that most people over 65 are not web savvy. Well, I’m a senior who is very experienced with the web, but the www.medicare.gov website failed me. I was trying to compare my current drug program with others for which I would be eligible to see how the costs compared. I could not get the medicare site to do the job it promised.

Now that we are about to get a President who is web-literate and innovative, I hope he will work to make the Medicare.gov and other essential government service websites like it user friendly. Sphere: Related Content

Women in Politics

Okay, here we are again -- how many woman are in Congress? How many women have been elected to your state legislature?

In Congress, 74 out of 435 representatives (17%) and 16 out of 100 Senators (16%)are female. According to the Center on Congress, this is the highest number of women in the history of Congress! Jeannette Rankin of Montana (pictured below) was the first woman ever elected to Congress -- in 1916 -- several years before the Constitutional amendment allowing women the right to vote was affirmed by the states.

In my state of Virginia, it's about the same: out of 100 state delegates, 13 are women (13%); the state Senate percentage is a little better -- 8 out of 40 (20%). Still, for a state where over half the population are women, this is pretty pitiful, especially since none of the top three executive positions (governor, lt. governor and attorney general) have no females and haven't since Mary Sue Terry was attorney general from 1986 to 1994 (and she's the only female to have held one of the "big three").

Why is this? What do you think?

How do we find women willing to run and encourage them? Sphere: Related Content

INAUGURATION DAY - WASHINGTON, DC

Born in 1939, I politically was baptized by the election of JFK in 1960. A pre-baby boomer, I took my own babies on picket lines in suburban Maryland and Virginia in the mid-60s to protest housing segregation. Our proudest accomplishment was getting the Johnson DoD to end housing segregation for the families of troops serving during the Vietnam War. In mid-life I went to law school, joined the Southern Environmental Law Center and have worked for 23 years to protect our environment. Along the way, I also served in local government, was mayor of Charlottesville and ran for Congress in a special election against a then little-known politician named George Allen. I learned first hand the difficulties of running an issue-based campaign when Allen attacked me in an ad implying I was disloyal to my country: The NRCC TV ad depicted a rally against the Gulf War in front of the Capitol, a protestor holding a sign reading "Victory to Iraq" and a still photo of me saying "Kay Slaughter and the liberals in Congress opposed fighting Saddam Hussein." The President Elect, who also got into politics because of his principles, ran the kind of campaign I strove to run. I plan to celebrate his victory (with my daughter) and that of Congressman Tom Perriello (VA) on Inauguration Day. I worked for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- canvassing when I swore I never would again -- and standing in the rain at a Republican precinct on Election Day. A lifelong Virginia Democrat, I proffered mint juleps to my election night guests as Virginia went Democratic. I will be in Washington on Inauguration Day as it will be the most significant Inauguration of my lifetime and, I hope, the beginning of a better day in America and the world. Sphere: Related Content