Ah, the day is almost here. The nation is counting down for January 20, 2009, the day Barack Obama will be inaugurated. It is going to be a glorious day for the United States. The day will be filled with elegant speeches, concerts, parades, balls, and millions of celebrating Americans. Immediately after the world will begin to change. The mess that George W. Bush created will begin to be a distant memory. All of his failed policies will be overturned, the economy will begin to rebound, millions of jobs will be created, the war in Iraq will end, the automakers will begin to sell electric and hydrogen vehicles, alternative fuels will finally be used, small businesses will flourish, the middle class will once again be prosperous, and there will be peace in the Middle East. Well… maybe not exactly. Unfortunately, I feel there are millions of Americans that believe this. Not to put down any of my fellow democrats or any republicans or independents that voted for him, but January 20th will not be the day of change. What it will be is the first step towards change. An inauguration is not a miracle, simply a formality. Barack Obama is not a man with magical powers that can simply change the nation or the world in one instant. I’ll give some of you a few minutes to let that sink it as it may be hard to hear.
Now, before you go reaching for that brown paper bag let me point out that I do believe Barack will change this country. I just know well enough that it’s not going to happen overnight. Small changes will happen soon and the first signs of Obama policy will be visible within months. The larger, more crucial, changes will take much, much longer. George W. Bush really screwed up this country and it’s not going to be a simple fix. Imagine there is a massive, thousand car pile up on the freeway that has been ongoing for weeks. You are stuck behind this wreck and seem to be going nowhere. All of a sudden the accidents stop and the disaster site can finally begin to be cleaned up. An accident that took weeks to create will take just as long, or even longer, to clean up. There will be minor changes and you will begin to inch forward every so often, until finally the cars are clear and traffic can flow freely again. The traffic accident known as the Bush administration will slowly be cleaned up but the road will not be clear for several years.
So while January 20th will not be a miraculous day it will be our first step towards real progress and a historical day nonetheless. Barack Obama, I believe in you and am very grateful you are the next President of the United States. I look forward to your inauguration and every other day of your presidency. Make us all proud.
Originally posted to Blogger: January 6, 2009
