'Twas Nice While It Lasted

Last week, as the world watched as a new President be inaugurated on an historic day, I sat at home and watched the snow fall outside. We don't get a lot of snow here, so when we do, most things sort of shut down...schools are closed, roads unsalted for hours on end, mass runs on milk and bread occur at local grocery stores. Normally, I would be considered part of the 'essential personnel', but this time we took advance action on Monday night...so I got to stay home. And I enjoyed quite the glorious sight, even if it was all melted away by early Friday morning.

Pictures from my front door, home on the farm...

Today: The Work That Lies Ahead

The now very iconic "Hope" poster of Barack Obama, courtesy of a contributor pool from Flickr.

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Words from The Man himself, who (thankfully) became President today...

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

~ President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America, January 20, 2009

A complete copy of his Inaugural Speech can be found here.

The speech, while well-written and focused, was also not as electric as it had been hyped up to be. It was not like one given by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., nor Abraham Lincoln, nor John F. Kennedy...all of whom Obama has been compared to, for various reasons, for many months now. Nor was today's speech too akin to the one he gave after securing the Democratic nomination. However, it was concise, direct, and full of confidence...and what a change that was to see, even from the confines from my living room. But then again, I'm not sure I want an 'electric' President in office; instead, I want one not afraid to do things and see that they are done...and does them fairly, openly, and without breaking umpteen Constitutional laws to do so. (Let's face it, that would be a nice damn change, too, from the last decade, truly, when you consider the whole Dubya administration and the last two years of the Clinton presidency...the latter which was politically immobilized after the Monica Lewinsky debacle.)

I liked what I saw and heard from our new President, although I am anxious for the details to come forth and the plans to be implemented. But one day at a time, people, one day at a time. However, for the first time in a very, very long time, I felt I could truly support my leader once again.

Funny how that whole thing with 'faith' and 'trust' works in politics, isn't it?

Additionally, I found the following links that I feel are worth a look:

Help Obama Restore America on the Internet

And my favourite comic of Bush so far (one I could not wait to see, truth be told)...although it will come and go all too fleetingly

A Declaration of the Charges

As we wind down this most ugliest tenures in American history tonight, I wanted to touch upon and include just the briefest summary of some of the injustices we have endured. It is a litany of problems, large and small, for certain. But it also represents one of the greatest opportunities for us going forward: to finally start to fix all these problems, and be a respected leader on the world stage once again. God knows, it's long, long overdue.

(But, hey, don't despair: you, too, can send words of goodbye to #43.)

Dubya, I don't even know where to begin when describing your crimes and your ignorance. Luckily for us all, Keith Olbermann from MSNBC's "Countdown" does.

Keith Olbermann on CNBC's "Countdown", reporting his editorial peace of The Bush Presidency in Eight Minutes.

And what an absolutely frightening eight minutes that is, truth be told. Watch this and weep first...then watch it again and take notes of the many problems still thriving. Those notes are now our challenges as a country, and they represent what will be needed to solve those problems.

Question is: Are we really up for the task?

Happy New Year: 2009

May you have one of happiness, and not of tears.
May you have one of ambition, and not of fears.
May the star you wish upon come finally within your reach,
May the lessons you learn equal those that you teach.
May the dreams that you dream be happy and true,
May the failures you suffer be minor and few.
May you always recall the taste and tenderness of your lover's mouth,
May you follow passions as they lead...east, west, north and south.
May your endurance be long, your strength at the ready,
May your confidence not fail you, may your conscience hold steady.
May you follow the winds to the sails of your heart,
And may you treasure the end of your day as much as its start.