Opinion

Nov. 13, 2012 — Thirty. The big three-O. As one might guess, I recently had a milestone birthday. I turned thirty and honestly, the prospect was simply terrifying.

  I know it is just a number and I honestly don’t feel any different than I did a week ago, but it’s just the idea of being in my 30s that kind of freaked me out a bit.

  The number just seems so big. I’m sure all the old-timers reading this are chuckling to themselves, thinking 30 seems so small, but this is still new to me.

  I got many opinions on 30: some helpful, some not. My colleague, Debra Moore, told me her 30s were the best years of her life. This was encouraging, since I was viewing the milestone birthday as the end of my life.

Nov. 6, 2012 — There are many things one could say about Barack Obama: he has a great smile, he’s a rousing orator during his campaign stops and I would say he is also determined to hold onto his job.

  That, I’m afraid, is as far as I can go in the compliment department for the man who currently sits as president of the United States.

  In addition to observing the slight ups and major downs of his administration, I have also watched all three of the candidate debates on both the right-leaning Fox News Channel and the left-leaning CNN. I did this to be sure I heard the commentary and poll results from such polar perspectives.

Nov. 6, 2012 — Ah, yes, today is Election Day, and we’re all going to cast our vote for president. Good enough. While the history of the people electing their leaders may extend all the way back to the ancient Greeks, our presidential elections have a distinctly American flavor that raises at least a few curious ponderings.

OK. Let’s get started. According to the Library of Congress, the Founding Fathers probably did not envision the development of political parties, apparently believing instead that the “obvious and unanimous” candidate for the office would rise from the people — just the way our first president George Washington had.

Nov. 6, 2012 — Today is Election Day — the moment of decision for the people of our city, our county, our state and our great land finally has arrived, the day when the people’s voice is heard and heeded, and we decide who will serve as our elected officials, and we set the course of our public policy.

Today is the day the people express their will.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney face each other in the presidential race, each offering quite different perspectives and views on the proper course to be steered by the ship of state. Despite the seemingly ever-widening gap between the two candidates and the direction in which they believe we should travel, one of them will be elected president of these United States today, based upon our votes.