Obama inauguration special

By the time I post this, Obama shall have made his oath and inauguration speeches to become the 44th President of the United States.

That being said a lot of hoopla has been made of his significance. It seems there are those who can't talk about Obama without talking about Dr. Martin Luther King. Those who wanted to see this day have made their plans since the President first got elected.

I wrote on Election Eve that I was sick of waiting and the anticipation. The campaign season lasted too long and let's just bring it on and see who can pull it out. Honesty I had an idea who would win, but uncertainly over the actual winner. Obama wouldn't have been a surprise, but the surprise was how overwhelmingly he was elected. People on Election Night were VERY excited, especially on the campuses of the Atlanta University Center.

That being said the excitment has translated to today. I wish I knew how many is actually in Washington to watch this historic moment. On NBC News last night an elderly man who was said to have spent his life picking cotton was overwhelmed with emotion to see a Black President. Often my thoughts wonder if such people are making too much of this moment.

Let me just say when I was in the 8th Grade, I made a pronouncement that I wanted to be President. Sadly I was surrounded by some very cynical 7th Graders who mentioned at every turn and made me feel like a goof for saying it. They might be cynical now still, but surely they never thought they'd see today make its appearance.

Perhaps this is how a lot of people view this. Their children can dream of the Presidency just as I once had. To be sure I do believe the dream was always there, but no one had thought that today would have been possible. It could have been possible 20 or so years from now, but 2008?

For me, unlike the elderly black man I saw on NBC News last night or many others I have ran across since his election race still has nothing to do with this for me. Obama is at the right place at the right time. Expounding on what that means will be the subject of another post.

What I will say is that, Obama, won this election. He probably wanted it more and had many things going for him more so than, John McCain, his closest competitor. We won't know the racial effects until Obama has left the Presidency, but we know right now that people are highlighting the transformational aspects of his election. Those might be more immediate. Of course the question is will we see the second New Deal?

We'll see!

BTW, the pic you see is Obama's Presidential portrait! Save it to your hard drive and print it off when you get a chance.