The new president.

Before Watching the inauguration of Barack Obama today, I found myself pondering expectations. I was wondering if he will live up to the expectations history will have for him. I was wondering how I would feel watching GW leave office. I was wondering whether his speech would meet my own expectation that he inspire a country, while bringing together the often oppositional ideologies of its people. The pure weight of the moment seemed heavy on my shoulders, and I wondered at how any man in Barack Obama's position could bear such an immense and amorphous burden. I was nervous for him, and for us all.

However, after watching the hordes of Americans there at the National Mall, and seeing the exhilarated calm that they wore on their faces I am not nervous any more. As a nation we are in the throes of turbulence on many fronts. From the economy sinking, jobs leaving, allies scowling, air choking, schools stumbling, health failing, and our leadership ignoring... We have been born anew.

Has Barack Obama brought us into a new America? Has he carved out a bright future for my unborn daughter? Have the clouds parted and sun broken through on all of our failing governmental and societal ills? No. At least, not yet. Those things may not happen tomorrow, or even in the next four years, but we are none the less born anew as a nation. A young, vibrant and eloquent African American is now our president, and whether or not we reach the lofty goals set before us, we now have lofty goals. We have not only been given a direction, but have been asked to make it happen through our own hard work, sacrifice and dedication. Those three elements have been the fuel behind overcoming struggles in the past, and they will carry us forward now.

Proud to be an American and full of hope.

-Me