The 44th President or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love America

On January 20, 2009, Inauguration day, former Vice President was wheeled onto the Mall in an sadly hilarious metaphor; he and his buddy George Bush are lame ducks, now irrelevant that their reign of power is through. (Mr. Cheney pulled a muscle while packing up his things. No one was willing to help the old curmudgeon. Ha! And my boy Anderson Cooper called him Dr. Strangelove. Ha! Ha!)

It’s the day that everyone* has been waiting for: today, the United States becomes Obamanation. Or, as one clever sign stated, we are “One Nation Under a Groove.” While we are deep in a dark winter, today is the beginning of a brighter day, a better era.

I'll admit that I caught the Obama bug: I have hope. The inauguration is just expensive fluff and brouhaha but I sincerely believe that not only will President Obama bring about real change and will change the way Americans view race and gender.

President Obama stepped onto the Mall to address those who voted for him and those who didn't. With the world watching, the President spoke of personal responsibility and non-partisanship. As Robert F. Kennedy once said, "this [is] difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in" and there was a distinct feeling on the Mall today that our new president knows what direction we need to take.

I’m a critic (although not paid, so I suppose I’m just critical) but in my opinion, the inauguration was not without flaw. Our nation has seem to forget that there is a separation between church and state (it's in the Consitution, guys). The God shout outs were many and redundant; for all of Obama's chatter about being a diverse country, at the inauguration it was assumed we are a country exclusively of Christians. Furthermore, the Reverend Rick Warren, mega pastor! and vocal supporter of Proposition 8, was not appropriate. I get it, Mr. President: you want to include all Americans, even Red Staters. But to have a man who does not support equal rights and so hypocritically spoke of God's "loving everyone" is not instep with Obama's message of change.

Still, the Obama Administration will create change and encourage progression. This country needs a makeover: America is that popular high school girl with a bad reputation. Everyone fears her, resents her and doesn't like her. We have two failing wars, a dismal economy, health care and education issues, and a gross rollback of personal rights. We need change, and a lot of it.

While this is the beginning of an era, the Obama era, it is also the end of another. George Bush, don't let the door hit you on the way out. President Obama, we have confidence in you. Please, don't let us down.

*everyone is 54 percent of Americans that voted for Obama and let’s be honest, the rest of the world. And c’mon, red states, just admit it—you like the guy too.