President Obama -- Finally!

I barely know where to begin. There are so many angles and so many sidebars to the story of President Obama's inauguration that I may need a month to sort through them all. But first, let me just say how great it is to write those two words: President Obama. I still breathe a sigh of relief every time I hear it, say it, or write it.

There's no doubt that for Democrats, it's been a long eights years, and as Bush's approval rating and Obama's margin of victory indicate, Democrats weren't the only ones feeling the pain of his presidency. I, and I suspect most other people who prefer blue -- or at least purple -- to red, are quick to admit that the virtual collapse of nearly every major American economic, corporate, and financial entity was far, far too high a price to pay for the selfish right to say "We told you so." Looking back, yes, I wish Bush's years as president had been more successful, and I wish the Republican policies that have been implemented since 2001 had worked as well as Republicans vainly thought they would. Maybe then, my savings account would have a little more padding. Maybe then, my home's value would be a bit higher. Maybe then, my dad would have gotten the unemployment he was entitled to -- or not lost his job and pension in the first place. Maybe then, our troops would be home with their families, Iraq wouldn't still be a war zone, and Osama bin Laden would have been caught several years ago. Maybe then workers would not have lost their jobs or been laid off at Circuit City, Value City, KB Toys, Linens N' Things, Krispy Kreme, GM, Kmart, D&G Pools, Mountaineer Casino, Turning Technologies, Gortants Chocolates, Wheatland Tube, 84 Lumber, Vinyl Source, and many other companies around the region, state, and country.

And yet there are those who already hate Barack Obama and everything he stands for. They hate that he is a Democrat -- even while they may have lost life savings under Republican policies. They hate that he wants to provide health care and education -- even while they can't pay doctor bills and student loans. They hate that he is popular, educated, articulate, intelligent, charismatic, determined, and scrupulous -- even as they see the state the last president left this country in. And yes, there are those who hate him just because he is black and he is another example that the white race is quickly losing its status as the ruling class in America, even though that undeserving privilege was obtained by white people though slavery, genocide, discrimination, prejudice, and unconscionable dominance.

For the first time since I was in college, I feel like the United States once again stands for something other than selfish pursuits on the part of the country and its individual citizens at the cost of all else. Patriotism, it seems, had been reserved only for those who agreed with the President. Now, more people than ever can reclaim a sense of national pride that needn't be linked to war, religion, and money. Patriotism is about freedom, fairness, growth, pursuit, work, debate, knowledge, idealism, charity, and compassion. Those are ideas I can appreciate and be proud of.

There are so many parts of Obama's inaugural speech that I thought were very quote-worthy and would love to analyze word by word. His tone was not patronizing or placating, and he was very direct and honest in his assessment of our country's condition. Pundits and talking heads were all a bit surprised at his candor, especially when he said things like:

"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."

or

"Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights."

But one part stood out to me as representing ideals that would have been at home on the pages of a Horatio Alger book. Obama spoke of the grit and determination of the American spirit, which is so often used to defend and characterize a course of action that historically has only helped a scant few outside the pages of those once-popular dime novels.

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

Yet somehow, coming from him, the words did not echo with the racial, gender, and even class-based restrictions such "boot-strap" rhetoric often carries. I did not feel the resentment that often bubbles up when politicians imply that hard-working Americans need only work harder to achieve the American Dream, because I believe Obama plans to follow up his expectations of the American public with government policies that support those expectations. For so long, we were left to sink or swim entirely on our own -- and told our success or failure was, and should be, entirely of our own making. But now there is an increased feeling that more of the people who get a return -- financial, educational, and even personal -- on the investment of their time, energy, and labor will not be hindered by their skin color, sex, social status or even last name. Furthermore, they will now get the resources they need to help level the playing field, and it will make the work and sacrifice a heck of a lot more worth it.

That was the hope I saw in so many people's eyes as they watched the swearing-in ceremony. That -- in addition to the diversity that has finally, finally, finally arrived in Washington -- is what people were smiling about as they left Washington or turned off the TV and returned to life that includes inadequate jobs that don't pay the bills, apartments half the size of the homes they lost, cars that don't run and that they can't afford to fix, and food that offers no nutritional value, but was on sale. President Obama, now more than ever, offers hope for change -- and I am among the tens of millions who believe he will bring it.