Dear Editor:A presidential inauguration with historic epic will occur next week. It comes in a year that the 200th anniversary of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, is celebrated. While Barack Obama was voted in by a large majority vote, Lincoln was barely elected by less than 40 percent of the popular vote. However, if one of the other candidates were elected, this country would have taken a different path. Lincoln was considered a racist based on today's standards but his Emancipation Proclamation paved the road for all minorities in the U.S. society today. Men like Martin Luther King Jr. (his birthday celebrated on Monday) and Barack Obama (his inauguration a day later) would perhaps not have their place in history. As a Hispanic Republican, I am reminded that President Lincoln was a member of the newly formed Republican Party in the 19th century. If it wasn't for Lincoln, Hispanics could have been slaves as well. One of those other candidates had plans of conquering Cuba for slavery. We are reminded again of Lincoln's greatness, however, not as a Republican but as an American that brought his country first in his attempt for unification of the nation. Mr. Obama faces the same issues as President Lincoln did. He faces the issues of unifying a nation that faces economic difficulties and racial prejudices. Mr. Obama comes from a mixed culture of white and black background. He knows how to face these issues. Every American must support this man as he has shown in his cabinet nominations that he can be as diverse as his background. He is currently showing that he is not the total leftist-liberal as he was painted during the campaign. However, after all of the nominations and pomp, he will be Mr. President. He has a long and rough road of unifying this nation. Will he be the diverse president for all peoples or that liberal candidate? Can he attain what Lincoln did for this nation over 100 years ago? Can he make Lincoln proud as the nation commemorates the 200th anniversary of his birth? It is not a time to reflect on the past several years but a time to move forward with the new administration and only hope that God helps him because it will help each of us. - Carl Mir, Downey ********** Published: January 16, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 39