President Barack Hussein Obama. President Barack Hussein Obama.

I never get tired of saying it.

For the last 8 years, every time I heard the word "president" in a newscast I cringed and tigntened for what followed. It wasn't until I had the same conditioned response the other night and then felt an enormous wave of release when I realized that they were talking about Obama that I even realized I'd been doing it.

It's wonderful to be genuinely curious to hear what the president has to say again.

I was telling my wife that one of my desires in the next ten years is to go to Europe and that that felt all but impossible until now. I had paraniod flashes that I'd be snatched off the street unless I spoke with a non-american accent. Silly, I know, but now that fear is gone (and I'm sure the risk, however actually low it was, is lessened).

The inauaguration speech was perfect. Humble. Realistic. Directly pointed at the failures of the Bush administration without actually insulting Bush as he sat there (Bush looked beautifully uncomfortable though). And inspiring. I've never felt that. Ever. The first president I remember being conscious of is Nixon. Carter was fine and did a few good things but was uninspiring. Then the hell of the Reagan years. Bush I who was reagan without the personality. Clinton who made you feel good and in retrospect was a good leader for his time, but still not inspiring. And then Bush II who made the Reagan years seem tame.

I don't know what'll happen to Obama, but I know that the country (me included) is in his corner more than any president in my lifetime.

And that's before I even take into acount the historical significance of his election to the office.

It took someone like him to break that barrier.