Presidential Inauguration 2009

Finally the day has come Tuesday January 20, 2009 where we throw out the old and bring in the new. Unfortunately I had to work but that couldn't stop me from watching the swearing in and the Inaugural address of President Barack Hussein Obama. For some reason it has felt like an eternity since Barack Obama won on Nov 4. I mean he's been the President-elect for three months and in that time the country has continued to spiral from bad to worse. I don't envy our new President and the challenges he faces, two wars and a crumbling economy but he seems up to the task. He gave a sobering speech yesterday and he really didn't pull any punches when he talked about the previous administration's missteps. He says in his speech, "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age." If that wasn't a parting shot at W, then I don't know what is.For eight long years this country has struggled under a President who does not have and obviously never wanted to have the intellectual curiousity needed to sucessfully do his job as President of the United States. He has run roughshod over our nations Constitution with notions of terrorist evil doers twidling their mustaches and plotting their evil schemes. He lived in a bubble where he neither read nor sought opinions outside of his own. And perhaps his most egregious actions occured when he seemed to revel in his own ignorance, making up the facts to suit his ideals. Bragging about his C average in college and looking down on experience and education. And in the end after his term had expired and the country looked to hear some shred of regret about the mistakes made by his administration he acknowledged that he wished he had rethought the low fly-over above New Orleans after Katrina. Classy right?Yes these past eight years have been tough but I feel a renewed spirit and the promise of the possibility that no matter how many obstacles have been put in our way that we as Americans can rise above the detritus and become a great and powerful country once more. With Barack Obama as our 44th President maybe we can finally embrace the changes of the 21st century and usher in this new age of eco-friendly technology. Yes We Can.