Aloha...

I was extremely fortunate to grow up when I did with the parents I had. My father was an amazing man. He taught me two important things: You belong wherever you are and you regard each person you encounter as an individual. I can't begin to convey how rich those two simple tenets have made my life. They are what have made living in Hawaii such a joy for me: I'm in a culture where those two values are essential. And that culture has shaped Barack Obama. I think that may be part of the reason that some accuse his supporters of a "cult-like" devotion to him. The values he learned during his formative years here shine through. He is the genuine article. He is not pretending.

We face the most crucial election of our lives (I hope). Barack Obama only needs to accomplish a few things to be a great president: End the war in Iraq, start the fights against global warming and against our dependency on oil, ensure that every American who needs health care has it, and work to make the world a more just and safe place. That's about it.

John McCain is viscerally opposed to that agenda, as is the constituency supporting him. We can't afford a McCain presidency. We don't have a lot of time left. The rest of the world is ready to break out the torches and pitchforks and there's not a whole lot we Americans would be able to say in our own defense. The oceans are rising. Tides are turning.

Aloha means a lot of things, but it's most famously known as meaning "hello" and "goodbye." America will pick one or the other in November.