I watched the Presidential Inauguration today, and how do I best describe the myriad of emotions that I've felt on this most historic of days?

It is a bittersweet day for me, because the father, grandmother, and great-aunt that I adored so much were not here to witness history being made. How I wish I could have sat with them, especially my grandmother and her sister, who lived through Jim Crow, segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement, and been able to talk to them, and see their faces, as they witnessed a man with a face like theirs take the Oath of Office. I wish that I could have held my father's hand and cheered with him as we celebrated the end of eight years of living under the psychology of fear and ideology and discussed our hopes and optimism for the next 4 years!

I also looked on with frank disgust at what I see as Dick Cheney's blatant attempt to steal the show from the Obamas. Come on, when you are in the position he is in, like you REALLY lift a finger to move anything. They have movers and staff hired for just that purpose, so I'm not buying the "he strained his back while moving a box" excuse. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was crippled from polio, never once dared to let anyone see him in a wheelchair, even at the end of his life -- and was so determined not to let anyone see him in a moment of weakness that he had the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office raised so that the public never saw him as anything other than fit. I thought it was highly disrespectful and truly indicative of how Cheney really feels about this changing of the guard.

I have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that made it to Washington to witness this event -- the parents with their newborns, the small children, the elderly people, those people with such a grasp of the significance of this event that they have braved the bitter Arctic cold that has gripped much of the nation so that they can say they were eyewitnesses to history in the making. Never have I seen so many people gathered to see one man inspire everyone -- black and white, Latino and Asian, Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and anarchist -- and be reassured that yes, democracy is alive and well and it does work!

I am happy and optimistic that we have a President who will restore dignity and respect to the office of the American President. His Administration, I hope, will restore America's credibility in the global community. I look forward to an age of post-partisan politics and hope that solutions to the current economic crisis can be found, real working solutions and not golden parachutes for the clowns who have put us in this position in the first place.

This day, I wish everyone the same hope and optimism that I feel at this very moment -- and wish everyone much peace and great success in this New Year and new Administration!