While there are many dinners, balls and festivities to come, President Obama has been sworn into office and the White House Web page was quickly flipped over to the new administration’s needs. So many others have commented on the specifics of the new president’s speech and the surrounding activities that I will not dwell on it to excess. While Barack Obama wasn’t my first choice for president, (I was a Barr supporter) I will simply say that I thought the speech was beautifully written and masterfully delivered, hitting the right notes – particularly on foreign policy – and I found myself left with a feeling of somewhat increased optimism and confidence. My wife, on the other hand, actually cried through most of it, so moving did she find the day’s events. Difficult challenges still lay ahead and the future is uncertain, but I am not worried about the competence of the man who the nation has placed at the helm
With this changing of the guard, the regularly scheduled American revolution has been completed as required. The process is not perfect, having its own collection of warts and blemishes, but it’s the best we have. I am reminded of the often overquoted Winston Churchill, who once opined that Democracy was the worst form of government… except for all the others.
This is part of the pact that all Americans exist under. We live in a state of being both bound and protected by our body of laws and system of government which supports them. While some of us may, on occasion, chafe against them, they are still our laws. We elect the people who write them, as well as the executive who signs them into effect and, indirectly, the jurists who rule on them. No matter who you supported in this last electoral battle, today should be a day of hope and inspiration. We have demonstrated once again that the system still works. We’re moving forward and have entrusted our immediate future to a capable man who is an impressive speaker, possessing a powerful intellect and his own vision for a path to the future.
Later today we shall go and say a prayer for our new president and for our country in the years to come. Perhaps the most moving comment from President Obama was to those in other countries who may oppose us, saying that we will “extend a hand if you will unclench your fist.” I’m willing to give the rest of the world a chance if they will offer the same opportunity to Obama. I hope you will all do the same.
God bless our new president and the United States of America.