IN REMISSION FROM REPUBLICANS - by Sybil Adelman Sage

For almost eight years a great many of us felt America had been hijacked by a team that governed as if it were above the law without accountability, treating us as children “meant to be seen and not heard.”

Homeland Security added to our insecurity. It was the government’s way of saying, “We know what’s best," regardless of contradictory evidence. Infuriated and impotent, we signed online petitions, appealed to our senators and made donations to organizations that reflect our values.

During these last two terms, countless books were published that added to our mistrust of the administration. Sunday mornings on news shows talking heads were shaking theirs while discussing liberties taken, serious mistakes and deliberate deceptions by Bush & Co. “How is it,” a friend remarked with bewilderment, “that nothing sticks?”

For these reasons and more, this election was monumental, a personal victory for those of us who'd been suffering. We remain euphoric, as if a doctor had proclaimed, “The surgery was successful. We got it all!” The country has been cleared of its eight-year malignancy. We're in remission from the Republicans.

Though comics are carping that making fun of Obama isn't easy, if Hillary is named Secretary of State, we’re sure to hear jokes that begin, “There's a black man, a Jew and a woman running a country.” We've had enough of laughing at our leaders and are thrilled to replace them with leaders inspiring us to smile.