Someone asked me yesterday how I would describe what I heard in President Barack Obama's inaugural speech. After pondering the question for a brief moment, all I could come up with was "F-----G AMAZING!!" Honestly, how else could I reasonably describe a speech (and a day) I NEVER thought I would see in my lifetime? How could I describe finally feeling as if America finally belongs to the American Sheeple people?? I was in awe, stunned almost beyond words, and moved to the point of tears by the spectacle of Obama's swearing in and the words in his speech that signaled both hope and a clean break with the criminal ineptitude past eight years.
I've lived through 28 years of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. None of these Presidents cared a whit about those Americans who didn't vote Republican and support Conservative causes. Sure, they talked the talk of compassion, selflessness, and service, but the clear and underlying message behind their words was always "I got mine, you can damn well get your own". Reagan's "Government IS the problem" attitude sums up everything that was wrong with all 28 of the years in question.
Even Bill Clinton's eight years had serious problems. Hamstrung by his own too often barely reigned in appetites and the constant drip of revelations about his disappointingly shallow character, Clinton's great ideas and boundless energy often had him spinning like a hamster on an exercise wheel. A lot of energy was expending over those eight years with very little to show for it.
After 28 years of empty suits and vacant intellects, and eight more of various degrees of moral failings, it appears that we finally have a President whose character, intellect, and leadership ability are beyond reproach and match the times. We need to be careful to not hang unrealistic expectations on President Obama, but he's made it clear that he does not intend to back down from the challenges he inherits from George W. Bush and his eight-year Reign of Error ©.
I feel as if I'm waking up to a new America this morning, and while I realize how hokey and melodramatic that may sound, it's true. For the first time in...well, certainly the past eight years...I'm no longer ashamed of my country and what it stands for. While the past eight years have left us with a huge, fetid pile of $#!% to shovel, I feel hope that we can do it. Finally, it appears the American Sheeple got it right...and there's an optimism and sense of hope in the air that I haven't felt in...well, I don't know how long.
I hope that President Obama and his team are up to the challenge. I believe they are, though I'm realistic enough to understand that cleaning up the mess created over the past eight years is not a process that will likely yield immediate results. I'm willing to be patient, because when you're so far down that you have to look up to see the bottom...well, ya gotta have faith, no?
YES. WE. DID.
