I'd realized a few days ago, of course, why they happened to have this particular time available on January 20th. I listened to the inaugural events on the radio as I was preparing to leave this morning, heard them recite their oaths of office. There was a small television up high near the ceiling in the waiting room, fifteen or so people sitting in chairs waiting to be called for whatever test they'd come in for and another ten people who worked at the clinic standing behind them, silent, listening, watching. I'll find his inauguration speech later on YouTube. Quite a day, quite a morning.

Later. Tomorrow the new administration begins its task and in another few months we'll have more detail in where they want to go and if anyone wants to follow; their skill and the depth of their planning; their luck (and their luck is our luck), how much they may have, how much they may need, but that's true of all administrations. We all wish them well. Wish us well. We'd be idiots if we didn't.

You don't seem to be jumping up and down in excitement.

Oh, I'm more than pleased with what I've been seeing and hearing. I don't see how it could have turned out better. There's plenty of cheering right now for good reason but it's just, well, the problems are big, the direction the country has been going is bad and the task of turning it around isn't going to be easy. Again, I wish him (and all of us) well. Again, how could I not, but Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President when I was born and I've seen one or two Presidents start pretty well with hope and courage and end up against a wall.

Kennedy sent troops to Vietnam. Maybe he'd have gotten them out if he'd lived. Carter had the right ideas, but he didn't have the political management skills to bring them off. Reagan was liked, but his financial and foreign policies were a failure with one very important exception: he went against the conservative side of his party and peacefully negotiated the end of the Soviet Union. Clinton went with the flow on deregulation. I think Obama's beginning is as good as they come and I have the “hope” our new President has been urging us to entertain, but I'm also going to be watching.

And if he screws up you're going to Washington to sit him down and turn him around?

If he screws up I'm going to blather on like an idiot here.