It's Gonna Be A Long Walk Home

THE LONG ROAD TO REDEMPTION STARTS TODAY.

Times have been difficult for Americans. The times we feel today are much different than the angst felt in the first years of the Bush presidentcy.

The pillars of our country--freedom, openness and democracy were smashed with a neo-conservative hammer laying the foundation for the fall of banks and the credit markets.

The excitement of yesterday, though, is tempered by uncertainty. Millions of Americans still wonder with the Christmas season coming how to placate their children while crossing their fingers there's enough money to pay the bills or the mortgage, for that matter.

As Bruce Springsteen wrote, "It's gonna be a long walk home" to our ideals as a people.

I've been thinking of this song, "Long Walk Home" for a few months in anticipation of the election of Barack Obama. (Listen to a snippet, here.)

What is home for us? I think The Boss puts it eloquently when he sings:

My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town
It's a beautiful place to be born
It just wraps its arms around you
Nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone.
That you know flag flying over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't."

It's gonna be a long walk home, pretty darling.