“The people have spoken. Long live the people.” They have elected a man of intellect and courage to be our next president.

The 20-percent president, having reduced America to a fossil state, will depart not a minute too soon. Tax and spend? Yes, he spent our taxes with gusto and reduced American cupboards to shelves. Tax cuts for the rich were primarily spent invested in foreign countries, where former American industry thrives — thanks also to Bill Clinton.

The mere thought of the former president’s plan for our retirement via investing in the market, replacing Social Security, sends chills up my spine. So how’s your 401(k), your IRA? The last eight years have seen the birth of the “so-what” doctrine and a steady decline of national hope and you know all the rest: war, war deaths, a revised Constitution and Justice Department, the trump card called oil, intolerable arrogance, international scorn and the soul of the GOP.

Then along comes a whiff of hope and a candidate of change — a candidate who captured the waning spirit of the American people enough to bring the best of us around. A candidate, as was Lincoln, able to step beyond the history of an America handicapped by intolerable race and gender bias and squarely face a diminished America ripe for change. Those of us, who duly noted that the nation has gone wanting for these past eight years, placed our bets on change so as to steady the American grasp. We have seen a minus in education, health care, infrastructure, energy, regulation, global warming protection, government ethics, immigration legislation, product and food safety, our military and the economy, priorities. Undoubtedly the resulting deficits, the costs in turning America around will be profound. This is modern-math reality.

Those too obtuse to grant our leaders, our voters and our country the chance to turn destiny around surely have their heads in a liturgy of contempt too dense to grade on the curve. They do a disservice to themselves rendering themselves helpless to participate in the anticipation of change.

Yes, along does come those who would be presumptuous, whose crystal ball is clouded, those unable to admit which president’s debt will be passed along to our progeny and who prefer to pass this blame onto a new president whose discipline and focus have already typed a few very clear pages in America’s “Book of Tomorrow.”

There is no downside to hope and change at this time in our history. This is the upside.

Carol Casey

Crestwood