The Obligatory Inauguration Day Post

Being American, and Democrat, and wacko Liberal, it is my sworn duty to post something about the Presidential Inauguration today.

My overriding feeling is OMG everybody calm down. He is not the Messiah. He is simply the next man to serve in the position of President of the United States. Yes, that is big. Yes, that is important. Yes, I think he’ll do a good job. I also think he’ll make mistakes. After all, he’s human too just like you and me.

So calm down people. Take a few deep breaths. Life will not be so overwhelmingly different tomorrow from what it was yesterday. Change will take time. Change will come, but it will not come without difficulty.

To tell you the truth I’m just a whole lot happier about the loose cannon leaving the White House than anything else. I found Bush to be one helluva scary man to have as president and truly don’t understand how the American people voted him in for a second term. It seems to me that even the Republicans should have seen by then what a truly scary man he is. I have every reason to believe it was all about family ties that kept him in the White House for the second term. That is a family that wields excessive power within the Republican party, and if the Republicans hope to revitalize their party they must find a way to wrest that power from that family.

It saddens me that so many Christians have been taken in by the Republican party, been drawn in with a series of well calculated maneuvers to support a party that is not all about “family values” or “Christian values” but by corporate greed. The Republican party has been, and is, run by “old money” families whose goal is to make more and more of the nation’s wealth theirs on the backs of the middle class and the poor. Unless there are fundamental changes within the top ranks of the party, I would not ever vote for a Republican in a national election. Local elections yes, but national not on your life. I can’t think of a scarier regime at the federal level than some of your top ranking Republicans.

Who knows, that may be true for the Democratic party as well, but I don’t have any firsthand knowledge there so I just can’t say. I do find more hope though in a party where I find a more diverse mix of candidates. Both parties have a long way to go to not be a bunch of white men in suits, but it appears to me that the Democrats have pulled ahead in that race.

Just so you know, I think the whole process sucks today. I think candidates should run on platforms that reflect their true opinions on the issues rather than packaged to appeal to the masses. Right now you only get to vote for the public image of your choice rather than the substance of your choice. How much better the process would be if only somehow it could be based on what’s inside rather than the packaging. Realistic? No. Idealistic? Yes. Will it ever get better? Not until hell freezes over and pigs fly.

Enough political ranting for one day. Go enjoy your inaugural celebrations.