Strange Days

Well, today is the day. I joke about President-Elect (or maybe by the time I post this it will just be "President") Obama being the Second Coming of Christ, and even today I joked about him parting or walking on the waters of the Reflection Pool in Washington DC on his way to the inauguration. I don't take talk of Barack Obama being the new Messiah as seriously as some of my Democrat associations do. However, I do hope he succeeds as President, if for no other reason than that I'm selfish. I don't want our economy to complete its downward spiral by completely crashing--and yes, I know we're on our way there, anyway. I don't want us to be the target of numerous terrorist attacks. I don't want the United States to become weak militarily. I hope President Obama overcomes his lack of experience. More than that, I hope he overcomes his lack of respect for life, especially that of the pre-born. He has a lot to prove. A lot of people put a lot of faith in him, and for the sake of our nation (and for my own sake), I hope he doesn't disappoint. So yes, today is a great day. The election process of our democratic republic has succeeded yet again, and we have brought to office another President of the United States of America, a Commander-in-Chief for our Armed Forces, a Chief Executive. Though I will treat him with a lot more respect than President Bush ever received from his detractors, don't expect me to be excited about the man we as a nation picked. After all, I voted for the other guy. However, congratulations, President Obama. You will be in my prayers.

As he leaves office, I would like to thank President Bush for his service to our nation. Less than a year into his presidency he faced the greatest test any of our elected officials has ever had to take, and he passed. He took a nation at its lowest point and gave us hope and confidence that we could overcome. It has been 2,689 days since we've faced a terrorist attack on domestic American soil, and much of that is thanks to the fact that President Bush had the chutzpah to make the difficult decision to send our fighting men and women to the Middle East to seek our terrorists where they were instead of waiting for them to come to us. Yes, the economy has taken a nosedive on his watch, but there is plenty of blame to be shared, especially with Clinton who pushed for mortgages to be given to people who could not repay them. I was very proud to call President Bush "my President". I'm one of the 29%. And even if I weren't, I would have spoken of and treated him with a lot more respect than he received from the media and a majority of our nation.

On a much happier note, this past Sunday my wife became a Lutheran, and we were able to receive Holy Communion together for the first time. I am very proud of my wife. After the way she was treated by those who called themselves Lutherans at my last congregation, Faith would have had every right to tell me, "I'm sorry, dear, but if that's the way Lutherans act, there's no way I will ever become one." I wouldn't have forced her to become a Lutheran under any circumstances. She made the choice herself, and I am very happy to have a Lutheran wife.