Out-auguration

Happy dawn of a new free world, everybody.

Literally dawn, here, where the inauguration speech didn't air until 3:25am. Thank god for the internet, so (after falling asleep in front of the TV) I could download it the next morning. And what a speech, what a president!

There has been much made about the inauguration, even here. Inauguration, from Latin inaugurationem (nom. inauguratio) "consecration, installment under good omens," from inaugurare "take omens from the flight of birds, consecrate or install when such omens are favorable," from in- "on, in" + augurare "to act as an augur, predict" must have its equal and opposite. I would like to propose a new phrase, representing all the good things that are predicted not just by the incoming Obama, but the outgoing Duhbleya.

First, because esteem for US citizens internationally has been so low for the last 8 years, we are finally able to raise our heads, stop talking with phony Canadian accents, and cut the maple leaf flags from our backpacks. It is not just because we elected an erudite man who has lived in Indonesia and has some real experience with the people of other nations, but it is also because we have shown that we can (eventually) learn from our mistakes by not voting for the same old folks who have so lowered the international opinion of the US.

Also, by trading in a President who can barely read for an editor of the Harvard Law Review, we have shown that we are rejecting the semi-literacy and mediocre communication skills that we have suffered through for the last eight years.

Finally, by our choice as a nation to see out the culture of the good ole boy network, the yes-man mentality, the cronyism which has been in such evidence during the last administration, we can feel that we have said goodbye to the unilateral government that did not tolerate dissent.

The only person with anything to lose by not having Bush in office anymore seems to be David Letterman and his Great Moments In Presidential Speeches segment.

Happy Outauguration, everyone!