First, I hope all of you had a thankful Thanksgiving.  Today Barack Obama, the President Elect, named the members that will make up his National Security Team.  As expected, Hillary Clinton will take the position as Secretary of State, and Robert Gates will keep his position as Defense Secretary and Eric Holder will hold the position of Attorney General, Janet Napolitano will take position of Homeland Security Secretary, Susan Rice will be U.N. Ambassador, and General James Jones will be the National Security Advisor.

Many believe that his choices show us that he is not choosing based on liberal inclinations, but on the wisdom that the members he has chosen bring to the table.  Remember, Obama has very little experience, and he is going to hold the HIGHEST office in the United States, so must surround himself with older, wiser and more experienced individuals. It appears that this is just what he is doing, and in my humble opinion shows some measure of humility and wisdom on the part of the President Elect.

We will get into the individuals more over time, for now, what does the National Security Council do?

According to the web page on whitehouse.gov, (the photo will change there shortly, by the way), the establishment of the National Security Council took place in 1947, and became part of the Executive Office of the President in 1949.

The National Security Council is chaired by the President. Its regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, and the Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to their responsibilities. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate.

The team advises the President on matters related to the security of our Nation, and foreign policies, and the coordinating and distribution of the polices to the appropriate government agencies.

Barack Obama is already doing weekly radio addresses which are being video recorded, and will be available on YouTube each week, at least this is what I heard today, so I took a look, and found the following for this week:

Among the more serious issues facing President Elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, there is the matter of adding their personal touch to one of our great historic monuments, the White House.  How this will be done is something that, so far, is left to our imagination.  There is a lot of speculation out there, but it will be interesting, in the theme of CHANGE that has been so important to Obama’s campaign, to see what kind of change will take place in the White House.

When the Obama’s move from their Chicago home to the White House, they will bring with them a diversity within their own family that is a great change. Will it be reflected in the way that they decorate, and how will it show in the art that they chose do decorate the walls?

It must be an extremely great honor to be the first black and multi-racial family to be President and to live in the White House, will the variety in their backgrounds, and the places they and their past family members have lived be reflected in the canvas art that is chosen?

I was browsing around at a site called mywhitewalls.com, and using my imagination a bit, wondering what “whitewalls” might have to offer the “White House”? I enjoy art, my son works in the art field, my husband’s parents went to the Art Institute in Chicago, my sister has a degree in Art, and my Aunt and Uncle went to Pratt Institute in New York. So it was a natural to browse this site, and I noticed that their shipping is free, anything free these days is helpful with our present economy.

Keep your eyes out for news on how the new First Lady, Michelle Obama, will decorate her new home, and do share if you already have some inside info that I’m missing.

Today the transition from a Bush/Cheney to an Obama/Biden Administration will begin.  And here I thought that maybe Obama would get some down time, but no, I guess that’s not how it works.

I don’t know a lot about what goes on during a transition like this, at least I didn’t until I visited a site on Squidoo…if you don’t know what Squidoo is, well, you’ll have to figure that out when you visit this link all about Transitioning the Presidency.

Okay, I didn’t vote for him, but wow, what an incredible moment. Barack Obama is our 44th President! I can’t help but think of how the first Africans, before they were called many other names, now African Americans, became part of our Country, all that they have been through, and now what a historic moment!

Actually, I am reminded by a commentator on television that Barack is a Bi-racial President, one who reaches a diverse group, I wish I could put into words the many thoughts that are going through my mind, nothing negative, just amazement, wonder, awe.

Congratulations to all of you embracing this moment, I truly am happy for you all, and will be praying for our new President and Vice President.

I’ve learned a lot through doing this blog, and hope to learn a lot more in the days to come.

Now it is time for us all to come together…work together.

As I type, Obama has 207 Electoral Votes, and McCain, 138, and it’s looking like the huge crowds gathering in Chicago-land at Grant Park will have good reason to celebrate.  I’m going to hang in there for the declaration of winner, concession speech, and the speech of our new President.

Hubby went to close the local polls, things went the way he hoped in our area,  he’s resigned to whatever is going to happen as far as the Presidential election, and has to get up very early to go to work, so he’s snoring away in the other room.  I’ll only wake him if something miraculous happens.

I know, you’re right, it is a miraculous night no matter who wins.  Back later, getting back to watching them crunch the numbers.

The polls haven’t even begun to close, but today, history is being made, for the first time ever we are voting for a black man to hold the office of President of the United States.

I can’t help but feel the moment…I am not a black American, white as can be actually, lucky if I can get my skin to even TAN a little bit, but am happy that we have reached this point in history.

Obama may not be my choice for reasons totally unrelated to culture, but I’m happy that as a Nation we have matured to this point.

I have my scorecard from LivPAC and will be “keeping score”, and up until it’s over…hoping it won’t be TOOOO late.  I’ll pop in here now and then if the mood hits me.