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COLUMN: America's Ability To Self-Correct

(CBS) Editor's Note: This column reflects the views of wcbstv.com producer Chris Messinger.

It was one of those rare moments in history when the entire world stops and takes notice.

News of Barack Obama's victory as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee traveled from America's coasts and beyond, crossing oceans to native lands, where the response was nearly unanimous in every tongue: A black man would for the first time lead a major U.S. political party in its pursuit of the Oval Office.

As the eyes of the world cast upon our shores, a nontraditional sense of politics in the United States transcended the bureaucracy of Washington D.C. and transformed for a moment (or longer) into metaphors worthy of history: progress and tolerance.

For just one moment - regardless of race and gender, stripes and partisan warfare, ideology and denomination - the world stood still and looked toward the west in acknowledgement of the achievement, the maturation of the American consciousness.

Even as media outlets across the world began their coverage by turning attention to the imminent contest between Republican John McCain and Obama, the thought of policy and government took a back seat – just for a time -- to the passionate call for self-correction.

That is exactly what has occurred in the swift blink of an eye, a people's moral inclination to self-correct. As Obama stood before 17,000 spectators on a June night, with lenses capturing and projecting images for the world to see, the open wounds of a nation once heralded and envied by the world as the symbol for justice and diplomacy may just have begun the slow and arduous process of healing.

Healing from what, one may ask. From the decades – no, centuries – of mistreatment of people of color and others whose only offense was that their diversity of culture and ideas tasted bitter to those of narrow palate who took nourishment from the very melting pot their presence had also helped season.

Self-correct how, one may wonder. By savoring the history of the moment and then devoting real energy to determining based on one's own criteria which of the candidates will do a better job dealing with the pending national dilemmas. Certainly a deteriorating image in foreign circles, a crumbling internal infrastructure, a slowing economy and an ongoing five-year war are at or near the top of the list.

Nevertheless, the ability to celebrate the culmination of a historic primary race with the birth of a progressive and visionary future, regardless of the ultimate occupant of the Oval Office, is representative of a nation built from a DNA that is, to use an Obama phrase from that June night, "inherently good" and resilient.

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