Can't Sum It Up

I have a feeling I'm not going to get much work done today. I have msnbc streaming live on my computer and keep tearing up during the Inauguration coverage. It's not just that I'm excited and hopeful about Obama's presidency, or that I'm relieved to be at the end of Busy's abysmal one, it's a deeper feeling of awe and gratitude that we live in a country that allows this peaceful transfer of power at all. President Reagan summed it up well in his first Inaugural address:

To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion; and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.

To say that I'm happy would be a huge understatement. I'm ready for a change in leadership, ready to stop wincing when I watch my President speak, ready to respect the man in the office rather than just the office itself. I don't think Obama is the answer to all of American's problems any more than I think Bush was the cause of all of them, but right now in this moment, watching former Presidents and their families get in place to witness this changing of the guard with millions of other Americans, I feel overwhelmingly hopeful and proud.