I am writing this issue on 1/27/09 to be ready by February. I wish that I could say that my beloved Steelers have won the Super Bowl, but I would not want to jinx them. I think they will have their hands full with Warner and former Pitt Panther Larry Fitzgerald. What I can write about with the full benefit of hindsight is the inauguration of Barack Obama. It has been covered and talked about to death by everyone under the sun, so forgive me for adding my two cents.

Why do almost two million people stand in the freezing cold for hours, if not days to see this man sworn in as our 44th President? I think we all could think of many reasons. For me there are two that simply cannot be overstated. One is the fact that we have gone a long way in race relations in this country. I could not escape that fact that the very location of the event, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capital, and finally 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, were built on the backs of slaves. Shameful on every level, suppressed for almost two centuries, a stain on our democracy: we have finally taken a huge step forward.

It is not a small thing by any measure. In countries around the world, racial issues are at the core of civil unrest. It may have taken us two hundred years to form a more perfect union, and yet there is no other country in the world that has united people from so many different cultures, races, and religions under the rule of law, and the promise of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Has the process been perfect? Not by a long shot. We have fought bloody wars, we have seen our darkest demons, we have stuck our head in the sand. And yet the cause of freedom compelled the oppressed to rise up for their rightful place under the constitution, and the guilt of the many to face their prejudices and accept that our greatness comes when all men are created equal. That we judge our greatness by the collective character of our people, and not by the color of our collective skin.

As I watched the faces of all those people, they all seemed to say the same thing. I think we all held our heads a little higher, squared our shoulders back a little broader, breathed a little easier, and felt a lot more love and pride about who we are as a nation.

Instead of God Bless America, I would have to say... Thank you, God, for America

FRANK SAYS ...

"Let's fight this recession together. Come in between 2 - 4 Monday thru Friday, order a Mark's Special and we'll throw in a free cookie"