Fourteen hours before Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, I feel almost overwhelmed by the sense of history, of moment, of significance - and residual incredulity (reinforced by essays by all sorts of older wiser heads saying they still can't believe it's happening). It's like we're in the pages of a children's book. Since we're inundated with sketches and photos of the setup for the inauguration, I feel like I've already caught a glimpse of the big spread - perhaps the pages fold out! - of the story's happy ending. (Or maybe it's because I've already seen the children's books!)
In my
first post on Obama just over a year ago, I fumblingly described the unbelievable hope he seemed to offer that "we could live
in history, a history of growing justice and moral progress, and were not condemned to wander its disillusioned aftermath." Well, we
are living in history! And with tomorrow's confirmation that it's not (just) a story for a children's book, the world will be changed forever.
