The 44th President
I woke up at 6:30 this morning, bounced outta bed for the first time in weeks feeling good about things. Chelsea and I got coffee and muffins and headed over to The Rio to watch the inauguration. We were surrounded by other US expatriots and Canadians in the dark theater, all of us watching intently, cheering and standing as the ceremonies went down. I can feel much of the cynicism that has marked my adolescence starting to drain, and I am lighter for it. Cautious optimism is replacing it, being able to stand in a theater full of people in another country and cheer for a ceremony marked by the American flag is reassuring and refreshing. That being said, Obama built a fire we now need to hold his feet to. A great symbolic step has been made, and now it's time to extend that change to policy and action. We have learned the dangers of accepting rhetoric as fact, mistaking complacency for loyalty, so as not to repeat those mistakes.