Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Day After

Just like the changing of the year from one to the next, the changing of a presidential name takes some time to get used to. Several times today as I was updating WinnsboroToday.com with news, I had to stop and remind myself to write "President Obama" as opposed to "President Bush".

I suppose in time I will get used to it. It only took me two weeks to stop writing 2008 and get with the current year.

But Obama is not having trouble getting used to being president. He really hit the floor running today, and it will be interesting to see where he takes us in the near future, as well as for the long haul.

Last night, a group of about 30 people gathered here in East Texas at a coffee shop, Art & Espresso, that is owned by The Winnsboro Gallery We were there to celebrate the inauguration and it was interesting that not everyone had voted for Obama. But everyone came to show their support, which I thought was particualarly nice.

I also thought it was particularly nice that despite the fact that millions of people were crowded into the Mall area in Washington on that freezing January day to watch the swearing in, there was not one outbreak of anger or violence. No protests. No hate. Nothing ugly.

Gosh, could this mean that we are finally learning how to get along?

If Obama accomplishes nothing else in his presidency, the fact that he has set a high standard of personal integrity will be a fitting legacy. Let's just hope we continue to strive to live up to it.

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