VOTE

Like most Americans I watched the debate tonight. It's not important who I support. That's a very personal choice and I don't even ask my friends who they plan to vote for. But I am asking you to cast your vote in November -- a right still denied to many citizens in other nations.
Having lived in Germany I've seen first-hand what it looks like when freedom is denied. I will never forget what I experienced during my first visit to Berlin in November 1989, just 11 days before the Berlin Wall came down. The U.S. Military Guards at Checkpoint Charlie told that me that Peter Jennings and Dan Rather were in Berlin covering this world-changing event and that with over 4,000 protesters on the Alexanderplatz, they could not guarantee our safety in the East. It didn't matter, I had to go in as I was more afraid of missing this moment in history than concerned about my safety. Shocked doesn't begin to describe the sight of armed soldiers on street corners or the East Germans with spirits so broken that they couldn't even look me in the eye when talking. But I truly knew in my heart what 'FREEDOM' meant when back in West Berlin I saw families who had already escaped from the East. Hundreds of people were herded together like fenced-in cattle, standing in the pouring rain, with nothing more than a suitcase but they were grinning like they had just won the lottery. WHY? Because they knew that they and their families were free. Just do it --- VOTE!