I just finished watching the inauguration....
Regardless of what your political views are, you have to admit that in the US of A it's truly amazing to watch how peaceful the changing of the power is. It's somewhat of a miracle and a spectacle to behold...
In many countries, power is still shifted by riots, wars, killings, cover-ups, corruption, or other means to wield power over their fellow countrymen. Or in the case of a strip of land in the Middle East it's "Whoever can bomb the hell out of the other one the most"....ok, 'nuff said on that one...back to the US of A.
Anyway, it was awe inspiring to see just how peaceful the transfer of power here really is. Regardless of how any of us feel about the transfer or who sits in the oval office for a given period of time, the fact that every 4 years we collectively get to vote who sits there is just true democracy at it's greatest.
Someone put it well...in our country, politics are simple.
It's either we vote for "another 4 years of the same" or "throw the bums out & try something new". We just happen to be on the "try something new" cycle this time.
The funny thing is that for well over 200 years now, this system has been going on and for the most part all of the transferring of power from one president & part to the next has gone on fairly peacefully (I didn't go back & "Google search it", but I can't remember a time when there was a fight for the office besides the political campaigns fought for up to the election.)
Will this presidency do well? Who knows. They're up against some of the toughest times since Reagan and Roosevelt. They have some pretty big shoes to fill to live up to either of those presidencies and things just seem to be getting worse economically, politically, and internationally.
As with all things though, time will tell. Today is a celebration of democracy if nothing else and I'm happy to see that it's still working. Sure, there's a lot that's wrong with government, but as many have said and I echo, "I still wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world. It's still the best out there."
I was amazed at how simple the oath of office was. Just a couple sentences and BAM! He's been sworn in. I kind of like it that way. Sure, there's a lot of Pomp & Circumstance that goes with the inauguration (I'd sure hate to have to try & get around Washington DC today or tomorrow), but for the most part, it was simple, to the point, and efficient.
Long live Democracy!
Graydon
Waxing patriotic today..
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My feelings exactly. As I watched the videos on CNN, it was sort of exciting, and sort made us proud. At least this time the win was not drawn out or contested like the last times, (no offense, Florida).
Whether you voted for Obama or Bush, the fact remains that the majority of the people who voted for the president voted for him.
I wasn't able to watch it live because at the time, we were attending Blaine Molyneaux's funeral.
Max
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