I just finished watching the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States: President Barack Hussein Obama. There is so much to say, but it truly was an amazing moment for the United States of America. President Obama’s speech was deeply profound, much of it calling for a new era of peace and the United States’s role in working for that. I hope to reflect on it more later, but you can read the full text of his Inaugural Address here. There were some great moments during the ceremony, including the Inaugural Address, the poem and a brilliant benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowry (I’m still looking for the full text), in which he prayed that we’d turn our “tanks into tractors.” Additionally, the moment President Obama was sworn in, change not only came to our nation, but it also came to WhiteHouse.gov, with a wealth of new information, including a blog and Weekly Video Address from President Obama.
As I watched this on CNN this morning, I couldn’t help but feel emotional. I couldn’t help but feel more patriotic; actually proud to be an American. It seems a bit cheesy to type that, and I know that President Obama is not a Messiah figure, and this doesn’t mean our nation is perfect by any means. But I kept watching people’s Facebook Status Updates and Tweets about how hopeful they were, about how they could now really be proud to be a part of this country. I think that was evident from the faces and tears of those in the crowds around the United States today. Something happened today. Something great happened. The swearing in of President Obama allowed millions of dissatisifed and disillusioned Americans to finally be able to claim their identity as citizens of these United States and be able to hope once again.
