I can’t say that I was ever a fan of Barack Obama when he was campaigning for the presidency but, being a registered Demo-crat, I felt it incumbent upon me to listen to what he visualized for the future of a flagging nation.

I had no prejudice against Obama because of his color, but felt I did not know much about him. I have been impressed by his poise and obvious dedication to do what is best for our nation. A little more support from the people he represents might help the situation and, with everyone doing his or her bit, this nation just might come out of its dilemma “smelling like a rose.”

I’ve been personally concerned about how we are regarded by other nations. We have always been a proud nation and a leader among others, but there are threats to our boundaries that we must consider and with which we must cope.

I’m still listening to the President’s arguments as to what he sees is needed to bring the United States out of the doldrums, but I am disgusted with some of the constant fault-finders who consume much air time in criticisms of our president.

The theme on TV news reviews is “The First 100 Days” of Obama’s presidency. I had thought our leader would be given time to test his theories and explain to the nation what he sees as remedies for what ails it. Maybe, some of his ideas are not the best road to take, but very often the so-called experts can’t offer any better solutions for what ails us.

Every word of our president, every proposal, is being dissected, reviewed, discussed, cussed and oftentimes discarded as not worth thinking about. Many of his critics are pro’s and some present legitimate arguments.

But I remember reading a quotation by somebody named Murray Coen (in one of my “witty and wise” quote books): “The ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic by experts .... Don’t wait for experts.”

Noah’s ark withstood the great rains and storm in the Holy Bible’s account of how this patriarch obeyed God’s order to build an ark according to his dimensions. No doubt, Noah had curious spectators as he built the ark of gopher wood and readied it for what turned out to be six months on the flood waters before the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat in the seventh month.

Remember, Noah was 600 years old when he constructed the ark.

The Titanic was a British “White Star” steamer that began its maiden voyage in April 1912. In today’s jargon, we would refer to it as a state-of-the-art product and a template for future shipbuilding. Its demise came just days later when the ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and 1,503 lives were lost. I’ll bet that not a single snake died aboard the ark which carried two of every species known to man, and man considers the poisonous serpents dispensable.

When different events occur around our nation that seem to point to indifference to God and his power and influence, I can’t help but wonder if our problems are not of our own making. Our founding fathers certainly gave credit to God for the establishment of this nation and we would all do well to remember many of the incidents in the Bible where people and nations turned their backs on the Creator and looked to false gods and entities to protect them.

This morning, I scanned the news reports about heavy flooding in Colo-rado, Mississippi and other areas of the country, and a tornado here and there. In our area, we awoke to heavy fog but fresh air and the outlook for a cloudy, maybe rainy, day. But our properties were dry and we seemed to have been blessed by escaping the major problems elsewhere.

How soon we forget our deliverance from flooding, storms, fires and other disasters. April 4 will mark the 32nd anniversary of the “Great Flood” in Tug Valley and elsewhere in southern West Virginia and Kentucky.

The flood of record virtually wiped out William-son’s downtown business district, while damaging or destroying property throughout the valley. But, remember: not a life was lost, despite the fact there were instances when residents were forced to climb to the roofs of buildings to survive.

This writer’s home was completely inundated and many items that I had treasured for years were lost. I salvaged what I could of home furnishings and was thankful that there was no big “X” marked on my house to indicate it a candidate for demolition. My home survived, was restored, and continues to be my haven.

The face of Williamson has drastically changed in the succeeding years and we lost major businesses, but the important thing is that we survived and important lessons were learned.

There is nothing more humbling than to be compelled to obtain your daily meals at an emergency feeding center. With my home plastered with mud and no place to prepare food, my late husband, “Doc,” and I were truly thankful to be patrons of a feeding center manned by Mennonites who established it in the old West Williamson school.

I guess what I have been trying to convey to any readers who might turn to News Fountain, is the fact that we must be thankful for what we have each day; for dry homes with no water licking at their foundations; and for the fact that our survival of the flood gave us another chance at life.

It took a pilgrimage of 1,000 area citizens who rode a special train to Washington, D.C., in April 1978; work by our congressional representation, and support of everyone to get the floodwalls that protect the city of Williamson, the town of Matewan, and the South Williamson (Ky.) neighborhood, and floodproofing of other areas of Tug Valley.

As the anniversary of the Great Flood approaches, it might be helpful to us all to review the work of our founding fathers in the late 1700’s; read the preamble; our pledge of allegiance to “one nation under God,” and, by all means, read and study the Gettysburg Address by that great president and emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.

This writer may seem to be rambling today and, hey, you’re right. So, let me ramble some more with two interesting quotations:

Former President Jimmy Carter pointed out once upon a time that “God answers all our prayers; sometimes the answer is ‘yes’; sometimes the answer is ‘no’, and sometimes the answer is ‘you’ve got to be kidding!’”

According to another former president, Woodrow Wilson, “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together,” so let’s hope our nation’s leaders work toward that end.