THE MIRACLE OF THE VOTE

Just got back from voting. Funny, 43 years and 1 day ago exactly (11/03/65), our family and I landed in New York: bare-bottomed refugees from a Communist country. Ever since then--the miracle of freedom and democracy. I still cannot get over it. And this voting business: incredible. You walk into a polling station, and there are people of all kinds, from all walks of life, free to choose their destiny by making their voices heard. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, nothing is more important to democracy than a little man with a little pencil, making a little mark on a little piece of paper. This is the very heartbeat of freedom, and I for one do not know anything more sacred.

Let us hope that, even after today, this supreme gift will remain ours.