The crowds alone were something to behold, but then to take in the utter simplicity of the inaugural ceremony...those few lines were something else. I could not help but think as the President-elect sat on the stage just before his swearing in what must have been going through his mind. The enormity of what was about to happen must have been incomprehensible. I thought his inaugural address was really quite good. He made it a shared experience for all those listening. He made it clear, once again, what he's about. It made me think about the first time I read "The Audacity of Hope," and I said to myself, 'If he's even a third the man he's written about in these pages, then there is something here.' I felt that way again today. But I'm not so whacked to think that as of 12:05PM Eastern today that the economy was suddenly going to flip and this whole pesky recession was going away. It wasn't the Second Coming or as a buddy of mine said, "The Immaculate Inauguration." We've elected a new President and we need to let him go about the job.
Enough with the cameras and the countdown clocks on the TV, timechecking his every move. A co-worker of mine in London sent me an instant message during the ceremony, which was neverending, and said "Won't you Americans just get on with it and let him be President!" I laughed. But it wouldn't be an American event without countless hours of inane TV coverage. And speaking of inane behavior, oh Aretha, it may be time to give it a rest. She was a mess. Maybe Oprah needs to do an intervention.
All in all, quite a day. I'm grateful to live in this country, where the transition to power is bloodless (unless you're the Clintons but that's for another day) and it works, for the most part. We certainly aren't a perfect nation and we've got much to do to repair our footing in the world, but I am prepared to see where "change" takes us.
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