The Oncoming Hope

Barack Obama is President of the free world! Second coming of Jesus! 10th incarnation of Vishnu! The next Messiah! Muhammed moves another mountain!

To be fair, the inauguration was inspiring. It inspired me to run to my computer and...start a blog?

While that may seem anticlimactic, the Obama installation is a renewed call for thoughtfulness, a quality beaten into closets and kitchen cupboards for the past 8 years. Thoughts about the actual value of a symbolic gesture (electing a first-generation black man) versus the long term impact of his policies. The changing nature of art in a global world. How many days George W. Bush will spend hiding out from the media and from newly smug Democrats (who have been denied sincere smugness for years now). And, crucially, the nature of expectation and hope.

For those of you for whom the Obama installation is a cause for renewed vigor and vitality of our minds, bodies and spirits, your optimism is infectious.

For those of you whom the words "hope" and "historic" send you into fetal positions tighter than J.Lo's jeans, I give it about a week before the media turns, one week being ample time to fix the economic crisis, save the Middle East, restore America's leadership, reverse global warming, and yadda yadda yadda.